Mahou Sensei Kain! Act 10!
by Chris-Sasami-Bunny
Summary: And now folks, who else needs to make it to the tournament? Who else have we lost in the shuffle? Time to do some finding of our classmates.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Prologue

She trudged with some trepidation towards the stout iron door, her two long pink pigtails flouncing from the motion, even her long elfin ears vibrating with her steps. She paused just outside it. Finally, as one hand withdrew from the tray she held and reached out towards the handle, a voice suddenly cut in, startling her and nearly causing her to drop her burden. "Food for the prisoner, Ellis? Is it that time already?"

Ellis glanced over at the speaker. "Eminus- _sama_ ," she breathed in a sigh. "You startled me…."

"I sense your trepidation," the young man replied. "Are you afraid of her? Or is that pity?"

Ellis hesitated. "A little of both, I suppose," she admitted. "Even if she is a girl younger than me, someone like _her_ is…intimidating. And…it just doesn't feel right, to leave her bound like this."

"It wouldn't do just to release her," Eminus said, approaching the door. "In some ways, it may be a kindness to keep her here…under our care, under our influence, she will be protected when the Experiment concludes. I suppose it depends on the point of view…many of her mindset, many of her companions, might prefer to perish to surviving all that will follow." He reached out and took the handle. A spell within the door itself recognized the hand that laid hold upon it and unlocked the door without his action or intervention. He then pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Well, let's see to her."

Ellis obediently followed her master into the cell. It was a rather standard cell—ten foot square, with a single small window in the upper wall, barred to enclose it all the more, and with little besides a few necessary dishes and its occupant, hanging by the chains that bound her wrists to the wall. She was slumped, her head half-bowed, her long blond hair falling forward and obscuring all but the faintest shape of her head, let alone her face.

"Do we really have to bind her like that?" Ellis whispered. "It seems too much…."

"Alas, her misfortune is great," Eminus answered with his usual neutrality. "It is for her sake that we must bind her…we have no usual way of feeding her what she _really_ needs, and her dependency causes her mind to become feral when it is not assuaged."

The girl, hearing and recognizing the voices, suddenly looked up, her red eyes glinting and her sharp, wicked fangs bared. She growled low, almost like an animal. "Y-you," she said, with only a small hint of the usual Erika in the words. "I'll…kill you…."

"You would like to…now more than ever, I'm sure." Eminus held up a hand to forestall his companion. "The interesting thing about vampires…they are more 'pseudo-human' than anything else. You don't actually need to even eat, although you get pleasure from good food and drink as much as any human. You largely do it only _because_ you are trying to imitate and ingratiate yourself to humans. It is almost a pity that such a powerful, magnificent, magical race puppets itself off to the inferior species around it. Of course, as a species your kind has already played—and lost—a dangerous numbers game, has it not? Perhaps that puppeting truly is necessary for your survival. Of course, in another world—in the world we will create—you can be yourself…whatever that is. Do you just want to be a gifted human, or would you embrace all the power of your heritage and rule? Either is possible. Be happy—because you are with us, you will see the glorious world for what it is, and then you will be free to choose your place in it."

"Don't…joke around. Kain…won't let that happen…."

"Kain- _kun_? Really?" Eminus approached and knelt, staring Erika directly in the eyes. "How optimistic you are. Even after that Higurashi girl's healing, he'll be lucky to survive long after the blow I gave him. He has incredible promise, but as he is now he is not truly his father's son. He has the potential, but not the will that is necessary to stop us. While he was just learning to read, write, and cast basic spells, we were already setting this plan in motion. He won't stop us. But if you're lucky, we'll get our hands on him sooner rather than later, and he will join you here, awaiting our perfect world. Then the two of you can see it together. That, at least, would give you some comfort, would it not?"

Erika growled again, and Eminus rose. "Still, you're about at your limit…your vampire needs are far more demanding than any mortal concerns. At this rate you won't survive long enough to see anything. Your mind may hate this, but your body needs it…and you and I would both prefer this to me going out to find someone to harvest for you."

Eminus brought the thumb of his left hand around to his wrist. The nail in it seemed to grow and darken to pitch black, and with this strange tool he cut into his wrist. Then he proffered the bleeding limb to Erika.

Consumed by instinct, the girl stretched out her face towards it, extending her tongue to catch a few falling drops as it approached. She ran that tongue over the blood leaking from the wound, and then finally sunk her fangs into it to allow herself to drink more deeply.

Finally Erika pulled away with a still-animalistic sigh. She then huddled back up against the wall, staring up at Eminus, those blood-red eyes filled only with anger and fear.

"Er…she doesn't seem to be getting any better…" Ellis ventured.

Eminus turned away from his captive and began to head to the door. "Well, I'm not quite human. This is quite a double-edged sword for Sendô Erika. My blood will more than keep her alive, but it creates…complications for her. In some ways, it may be interesting insurance." He glanced at the tray Ellis still held in her hands. "In any case, she won't need any of that anymore. My blood is more than providing all the sustenance she could need. Perhaps Winfield is hungry, or you can find someone else to feed that to. Let's go."

"Well, all the same," Ellis insisted, hurrying after the young man out the door, "if she needs more, let _me_ be the one to provide blood to her…."

Eminus stared back at Ellis. "So…that is pity, then, Ellis? Be careful where you spend such a valuable commodity. If you develop too much empathy for our enemies it will be difficult to fight them."

Ellis stuck her chin out proudly. "I will do what I have to. But how can I not feel sorry for her? She may love the world enough to not want to see it destroyed, but that's her only real fault. She's still just a child, and she's already had to endure so much suffering, just because of what she is…even if she doesn't realize how many blessings she still has. But I know that, if things were different, if this world weren't so twisted, we could have been friends, and I won't—can't—pretend that that doesn't mean anything." She glanced back towards the door. "I've heard…Elven blood has a different effect on vampires…but it's still better than whatever your blood is doing to her. It's painful to see, in any case."

"As you say," Eminus replied, turning away and raising a hand in a kind of surrender. "Let's not linger here. There's no point to it."

"Ah, but you're still hurt!" Ellis insisted, nearly dropping her tray as she began to reach out her hands towards the injured wrist presented before her. She finally managed to balance the dish in one hand and stretched out the other as she closed her eyes and chanted in her native Elven tongue. The small cut and small piercings in the flesh faded and retreated, leaving Eminus' pale and unmarred skin behind. "There…all better."

"Ah…how cute, Ellis- _chan_. I thought you were seeing to the poor prisoner, but instead…taking care of your little hero?"

Ellis turned and shot daggers at the new speaker. "Shut up, Winfield! Not that anything I do is ever any of your business!"

Winfield was a tall man, swarthy, with long black hair, including bangs long enough to obscure one of his eyes. He wore a long brown trench coat and tight black pants, and a large pistol was holstered at his hip. He held up his hands placatingly under the fury of Ellis' gaze. "Come now, Ellis- _chan_! No need to get hostile! Aren't we old friends and comrades who have been through so much together?"

"I would rather say that I've had to put up with through so much…'friends' is about the _last_ thing I'd call us," Ellis replied with a dour sigh.

"Did you come to spew idiocies, or do you have news to report?" Eminus suddenly cut in.

"You wound me, Eminus- _kun_!" Winfield replied, sounding very hurt. "I would never have a reason to come down here, except that you were here…."

"As if you _wouldn't_ come down here just to ogle the prisoner," Ellis muttered venomously.

"I just came to tell you," Winfield continued, "that our mysterious little Kain- _kun_ has started to make a big splash. He's done something real interesting."

Eminus didn't seem to react to the information, but he stoically followed Winfield through the dark hallways of the quiet base into the observation room. Ellis, quite curious about this, followed closely behind as well.

Winfield went to the archetypical overly-large computer terminal underneath the enormous viewscreen, one large enough to make any hardcore video gamer moan with pleasure, and conducted the usual sci-fi routine of hitting buttons seemingly randomly. As always happens, a coherent reaction naturally followed, and the aged face of Kain Lockeheart was seen on the viewscreen. Eminus watched 'Kalan' Lockeheart give his challenge to any fighters within the sound of his voice.

Eminus watched the entire interview, no surprise marking his face or outcry disturbing Kain's monologue. Finally the scene ended and the picture froze, at Winfield's command, upon the sexy reporter taking her microphone back from the victorious fighter. "How interesting," Eminus muttered calmly, turning away. "I do not know why he is making such a spectacle of himself, but it seems he is trying, at the very least, to find more ways to increase his strength."

"You aren't…going to go join this tournament, are you?" Ellis demanded, following her companion out of the room.

"Of course not," the young man replied. "I have no interest in a public fight like that. But I will await Kain- _kun_ 's results with…anticipation. I suddenly fancy myself a fan of this perverse form of western entertainment. But more importantly, it makes me wonder what Kain- _kun_ 's little companions are doing while he's playing with the fighters. Call everyone together. I think it's time for us to make some preparatory scouting excursions…."

"You're a bit late on that," came a relatively high-pitched voice as Nagi materialized before him, leaning casually against a wall, his arms crossed. "Corai was already out looking for our missing pieces, but Kalovus and Horius followed him after the fall of the Gateports so they could get a look at Kain- _kun_ 's lovely little followers. And you know that Mai- _chan_ is among those lost out there…."

Eminus fixed his serious gaze on Nagi. "I thought the new plan no longer required the Crystal Princess."

Nagi chuckled. "We thought she was lost for over a decade. Of course we don't _need_ her—we still have one of the royal bloodline, even if she hasn't been as well-molded and engineered as Mai- _chan_ , and that combined with the Obsidian Heart that Corai and the others will make once they assemble the toys will more than complete the Experiment. But with Mai- _chan_ , things will go so much more smoothly…don't you think?"

Eminus shrugged and turned away. "You're the expert on the matter—I'm simply your young tool on his first excursion. But my forces will aid you as they must. Just don't abuse them." He started away, with Ellis following once again (just after shooting a suspicious glare Nagi's way).

Chucking, Nagi vanished.

F I N

 _Author's Note: Character Introduction: Ellis & Winfield_

 _So! What a terrible Prologue I've started with! Poor Erika. She's in a worse state now than she was when she was pitted against the party by Sakura. Originally it was Anya who fell into the hands of Fate Averencus and the Cosmo Entelecheia, but I opted out of having Lina, her equivalent, do the same, because 1) It was pretty sad that this one unique non-classmate real friend of Negi's was introduced, became pretty important, and then became a nobody who spent most of the final arc captive and didn't do much of anything even after she was freed and 2) Obviously, I wanted Lina to have a much bigger role in this, especially since she's such a major character. Although the poor girl has already suffered more than most of the class, I finally decided that Erika was the best option to be captured. Never fear—she will be rescued much more swiftly than Anya was (she was never_ officially _rescued until after the stupid final battle was over!). In fact, as I said that Erika was the best option—the reason is that this is going to be an important impetus for her character growth and what finally pushes her to agree to a contract with Kain. Over the last few months I've finally been able to read some of the last chapters of the Fortune Arterial manga and gotten a lot more insight into the vampires of that universe and, specifically, Kaya's history and the reasons behind everything, and, as sometimes happens, I've happily found that the contract as a support to her jives with some of the mythos of those vampires. It will all become clear when it happens, of course, but for now, poor Erika has to suffer._

 _I also introduced some sympathetic characters, which I should explain before getting into their introduction. Fate Averencus appeared during this final arc with a bunch of little girlfriends—orphaned girls that he had 'rescued', just kind of picked up, from wandering through ruined towns and the remnants of battle zones. Fate, a rather android-like golem-chimera creature, had little emotional ability and 'rescued' these orphans merely out of scientific interest. With no reason to do anything to them, he gathered a good number and allowed them to either go to orphanages and other places of refuge he passed along his wanderings, or follow him, according to their will and pleasure—similar to how Sesshomaru adopted Rin. He also formed powerful artifact-laden Pactios with all these girls,_ again _frustrating me with another 'This Rare and Powerful technique is actually available online for a buck-fifty' moment. However, I kind of wanted to mirror this situation with Eminus, as it made an interesting subplot (villains, especially robotic ones, that might have more feelings than you think are interesting to me) and also gave out a host of enemies for Kain's harem (er, army, er, companions) to fight against. So, to help placate my 'easily-available super-rare' problems, I created Kamo's foil, a magical spirit to aid the enemy side and give_ them _Pactios, er, contracts_

 _Needing a bevy of females to use, I opted to bring in the largely female cast from_ Record of Agarest War _, an interesting JRPG on my X-Box that is also part Dating Sim, as your hero is actually five different heroes, each the son of the previous one, born from whatever union you choose with one of three available females from the previous generation. This 'hero-raising' system, besides being part Dating Sim as you have to befriend and woo these women, creates different heroes stat-wise, as, depending on who your hero(es) marry, you end up with successive generations more focused on magic, sword combat, or combinations thereof. In any case, having four generations wooing three each, along with all the females that aren't on the menu until the final generation (such as Ellis), gives a huge female cast, so I can pretty much use all of them to fight various members of Kain's…ah, heck, harem. Of course, they are all heroines, so putting them on the bad side kind of makes me feel bad, but, similar to Fate's girls, they have good reason—as I hinted at, Eminus, in his learning and growing after his 'birth', did things similar to the original Fate, so he started raising these girls he rescued on whims and they became dedicated to the man who saved them, even accepting his dream of a 'perfect world' or whatever the Obsidian Star is planning, for those elite few—including them. They will all have a little more depth and reason beyond that, but also, since this isn't a particularly significant game to me—that is, I don't love these characters as much as the ones I made into Kain's class and companions—it doesn't hurt so much that they have stupidly chosen the wrong side. And, of course, it gives me opportunity to eventually play one of my favorite cards, Repentant Villains. Of course, I am ignoring the whole generational thing here as well, since there is no real generation._

 _And here are Ellis and Winfield, two of the first characters you get in Agarest War. I had planned to possibly introduce many more here, and probably have Kinue show up again as well to comment on her beloved Erika-_ chan _, but this went on long enough as it was, so I decided to just stick to these two. Adorable Ellis gets the most screen time because she's my favorite character from Agarest, one of the main staples, and, as is rather obvious, Eminus' right-hand woman. Agarest opens with the first hero, Leonhardt, general of Gridamas, attacking the frontier lands on the orders of his controlled-by-evil king (wow, I'm sure I've never heard that plot before…). Already doubtful of the justice of this action, he jumps over the edge and renounces Gridamas in order to save a High Elven child from the swords and spears of his Gridamas troops—naturally, this is Ellis, and it is this determination to save her that prompts the bargain for strength that will destine not only 'Leo' but his descendants to struggle to save the entire world. Ellis is a bright and cheerful child in the first generation, accompanied by her guardian Borgnine, a 'larva' or semi-divine summoned spirit companion (summonable only by true High Elves). She is obviously in love with her valiant savior but she is too young to be a viable candidate for his affections, so she instead takes it upon herself to raise his descendants and accompany them on their never-ending (well, until five generations pass) quest. She is a powerful mage throughout, and in a lot of ways the best character in Agarest, period (largely because of how the unique battle system works)._

 _Winfield is her foil in a lot of ways. He also joins in the first generation; he is one of the humans who lives in those same frontier lands initially invaded, and somehow he gets his hands on the Bracelet of the Covenant, which is the source of Power of the Dark Lord Summerill, the ultimate evil bad guy, and was forged through his guile by the Elves and the Greer (Dwarves). Wearing the Bracelet grants Winfield immortality, allowing him to survive through all five generations, but also slowly corrupts him. The ultimate quest line of this game is to find the means of totally destroying the Bracelet, which will also completely destroy Summerill's power. Wait a minute, I think I've heard this entire plot before somewhere…. In any case, Winfield's Bracelet also won't come off, so he's stuck with the party and this evil immortality thing. Winfield, for his part, begins just wanting revenge on Gridamas for destroying his home, but is caught up in the main quest because of the Bracelet he wears. Winfield is a lecher who is constantly trying to woo women, a skilled gunman/gun mage (mostly physical power, although Agarest is incredibly flexible about what powers and skills you can equip and use) and a constant source of amusement. Each generation has a 'hot springs bath scene', and Winfield, every single time, sneaks in to peak on the girls and encourages the hero to join him, and he is always caught (excepting the third generation, the not-wanting-to-do-this-in-the-first-place' hero escapes every time) and punished. He flirts constantly, and Ellis is particularly harsh with him. They make a very amusing pair._

 _So, with all this out of the way, it's time to start into the real story and see what's happened to the rest of Kain's students…beginning with Mai and Hinagiku._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter One: The Bounty Hunters

She looked this way, and then that…for several reasons.

Hinagiku Katsura was quite a proud girl. She was not a naturally stuck-up snob, but her abilities and her appearance (despite her sensitivities about her deficiencies) attracted a great deal of attention, and she naturally reacted to and, secretly, relished that attention. And because of that, she was reluctant to do anything that might disrupt that 'cool' image she had accidentally fallen into.

The significant repercussion of all this was that she had been reluctant to actually take up the studying of magic…at least where she was visible. She was quite proud of her martial skills and threw herself into her swordsmanship training largely because she couldn't stand being looked at as 'merely' a _kendo_ sportswoman, and an inferior fighter. However, magic was something she had no experience in and would have to start from the ground up, and having watched the early struggles of her classmates, she couldn't stomach the thought of picking up one of those wands, standing there in full view of her classmates, and chanting the silly chant and then, _then_ , after all that, not even doing anything. So she had always refused to join her comrades in their magic practice.

However, she had also acknowledged the usefulness of magic, particularly after the Festival, and had been studying it in secret, largely by getting specific spells or even whole magical texts from Yue, who had become such a dedicated encyclopedia of magic that Hinagiku felt no shame in consulting her about magic, at least in private. Yue and the rest would have been surprised had they been able to see Hinagiku's progress and they probably would have noted it as remarkable, but because of her seclusion, Hinagiku herself really had nothing to gauge her progress by…she did think it was easier than it really looked, but nonchalantly chalked her skill up to her natural ability to do anything with little effort and master it with a lot of effort.

And still, she didn't like to demonstrate her magic openly, so she made sure she was completely alone before working her spell, even though there was almost certainly no one for at least a mile around save for Mai. Then she extended a hand towards the pool and chanted (in Latin, because it always helped her center her mind on this fantastic thing when she used the ancient language of 'civilization'). A few words invoked the magic, and the pool she had chosen almost visibly warmed.

A dip of her finger satisfied her that the water was now more tolerable for her purposes, and, casting away her clothes, she settled into the water with a sigh. She soaked for a minute or so, letting her thoughts wander and dance around her situation.

Hinagiku always considered herself a 'tough' girl, a strong girl, or whatever…she felt she could handle anything that was thrown her way, and that she had already endured the harshest thing life could throw at her, but she had to admit to herself that this excursion to the magical world was tougher than almost anything she'd faced thus far…in some ways, even flying. She and Mai had recovered in very close proximity and banded together quickly, and quite fortunately, for it wasn't long afterwards that the bounty hunters started coming for them. Even she was amazed at how strong the two of them had become; the foes that came after them were rather easily defeated, but their frequency and the disturbances fighting them caused had driven them away from the more civilized lands of Halteese and Dalkia as they traveled and forced them into the small, more obscure and primitive communities. They were stoically dealing with it, but Hinagiku, if forced to a full confession, would have to admit that she was starting to desperately miss modern conveniences. Taking this opportunity to enjoy a warm bath and scrub herself clean was hardly sufficient, but nonetheless, it was an enjoyable luxury.

Suddenly Mai's head poked through the bushes. "Hina- _san_? Ah, there you are."

Hinagiku started, rather violently. "M-Mai!? T-there's this thing called knocking, you know!"

Mai stared at her in confusion. "Knocking? Ah, whatever. Are you taking a bath? Great idea…I'm all sweaty, too. Give me a second and I'll join you."

"W-wait! W-why are you undressing!?"

"How am I supposed to bathe without undressing? Washing up? Here, I can give you a hand, wash your back…."

"T-that's not necessary…Mai…t-this is?"

"What are you acting so shy for?" Mai queried. "We're both girls, you know."

"Y-yes…but…."

"Hmm…." Mai considered. "Come to think of it, you always avoided public bathing or showering back at school. Sorry, I guess I never thought of it before…."

"N-no…it's all right. Under these circumstances, it can't be helped anyway…."

"Right…."

After a bit of silent body work, Mai commented, "Your skin is so fair, Hina- _san_ …I'm jealous…." She ran a finger along Hinagiku's shoulder.

The girl started a new and gave a little yelp. "M-Mai!" she protested, red-faced.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. Ticklish?"

"Hardly!" Hinagiku huffed. "Jeez…you're just intent on teasing me…."

"No, I'm not, honest. Seriously, Hina- _san_ , you're just like a model…still a superwoman…."

" _You_ can say that?" the _kaichô_ grumbled, too low for Mai to hear. When she offered a questioning look, Hinagiku continued, "Never mind. In any case, you seem to be in a good mood, Mai. Did something good happen in town?"

"Mmm. Yeah," Mai agreed, smiling happily. "There was a rare broadcast in town. It was a message from Kain…he's all right. He mentioned meeting up at the Memorial Festival's tournament in Orimus in two months. He called out to Riku- _san_ and Kaoru- _san_ and mentioned that at least some of our other classmates are there."

Hinagiku jumped to feet in surprise. "R-really!? Kain- _sensei_ …thank goodness." Hinagiku sighed and sank back into the water in relief. "Thank goodness…he got hit really bad…I was really worried…." Then, remembering herself, she suddenly changed her expression and said, "W-well, of course it was for nothing. Of course Kain- _sensei_ would be all right…."

Mai giggled slightly at Hinagiku's never-ending bravado or, as some might impishly say, _tsundere_. Hinagiku shot her a slight glare, but then her expression changed again as she considered something. "Hold on…you said he was on this broadcast? How did he manage that, if he's a wanted criminal—the _most_ wanted criminal?"

"He was disguised as someone older…apparently he's got some of Alyssa- _chan_ 's aging pills or something. He was also using the name of Kalan Lockeheart. He's made a name for himself as a prize-fighter out west. I'm not sure I get it, but…."

"No…I see now," Hinagiku murmured. "He must have other needs we can't be aware of, but he's using the Memorial Festival's tournament to discreetly reach out to all of us, since he doesn't know where we are and can't search for us directly because of our bounties. Meanwhile, he's hiding in plain sight…as someone so old, he can't be the criminal 'Randis Helam', especially since he's using such a famous name. That name attracts enough attention, too, that he can secure world-wide broadcasts like this. He can't call any of us by name, because using the names of other wanted criminals would be too suspicious, but he can advise Riku- _chan_ and Kaoru- _chan_ of his plans, and just announcing himself lets us know, too. Yes…two months is a long time for this, but obviously Kain- _sensei_ has a plan. That's…definitely the best news we've had in a while…."

"Yeah…" Mai said happily, soaking in the water.

Hinagiku fell silent as she let the happy news sink more fully into her. Still, she couldn't fully relax happily, as the coming news had brought some small but significant concerns that she normally kept buried in her heart wriggling to the surface. She glanced over at Mai. _('Kain….')_

"Mai…what do you think…about Kain- _sensei_ …?"

"Eh?" Mai glanced over in surprise. "What do you mean? I'm worried about him, of course, but I'm glad he's all right…."

"No…not how's doing…do you… _like_ Kain- _sensei_?"

"Eh… _w-what_!?" Now it was Mai's turn to overreact and panic. "W-what are you talking about? Kain is…Kain- _sensei_ i-is our very important teacher and friend, and of course I'm worried about him, but l-liking him…."

"C'mon now!" Hinagiku insisted. "You're even just calling him 'Kain' now! You were his first, you know…be honest here!"

"H-his 'first'!? T-that sounds dirty or something…and it's just…I'm so confused now…with my past and present colliding like they are…."

Hinagiku suddenly calmed and turned away. "O-oh…that's right…I guess…you've been through some really tough times recently, haven't you…?"

"No…it's not that bad…." Mai sighed. "I don't even know anymore. It's all so confusing…my whole life is confusing…and thinking about Kain…and then his father…and all of that together is just too much for me. So, I'm just trying to focus on what's important right now, and things like…l-like 'being in love'…I really just can't spare any energy for that…."

"I guess not…sorry I asked…it's just…." Hinagiku fell silent, unable to continue.

Mai stared at her. "Hinagiku- _san_ …what about you…do you…'like' Kain- _sensei_?"

Hinagiku started and began to burst out a protest…but it died halfway down her throat. With everything weighing on her right now, it seemed so silly and pointless to stick to anything but the truth. "Y-yes," she finally admitted. "I…did the most terrible thing…and fell for him…."

"The most terrible thing…" Mai repeated. "I'm sure such a comment would just thrill Kain- _sensei_ to no end…."

"I-it's not like that! It's just…I promised Kazumi I would support her…you know, after we graduate, when it might be proper to have a relationship…before I fell for him, or before I knew I fell for him, at least. And then I betrayed her by falling for him myself…."

Mai couldn't bring herself to laugh. Somehow she felt that she could very much empathize with these feelings. "I see…and what did Kazumi- _chan_ say when you told her?"

"H-how did you…?"

"Lucky guess. Well?"

Silence. "S-she said…she'd support me, too…."

"Right." Mai laughed. "After everything that's happened, who could expect that we could just sit here like this and talk…girl talk, like normal girls?"

"Yeah…like normal girls…."

Mai's laugh turned into a sigh and she leaned back in the water. "Really…we just can't help it, can we? We're human…young girls…we tried to give up our normal lives, but we're still unprepared for what that all really meant…even me….

"I want to thank you, Hina- _san_. I'd be lost without you right now."

"W-what? What's that about? You're every bit as essential to our group…."

"No…not like that." Mai shook her head emphatically. "I mean…ever since I started helping Kain out with his battles, against Alyssa, in Kyoto, against the graf…I've started to see my old past…who I was before Mahora. And right now…after re-learning everything about myself…I've kind of been struggling with my identity." She sighed. "It's kind of hard to explain, but even after everything's that happened…no, _especially_ after everything that's happened, part of me is confused about whether I'm me, Tokiha Mai, or Mai Alusia Hairen Takiva. But…having you here…it's kept me grounded. It's reminded me of who I _really_ am. So…thanks."

Hinagiku was quiet, digesting this. "Oh…y-you're welcome, of course…."

Mai giggled. "Sorry. You weren't expecting that, were you? In any case, we've managed to keep ourselves afloat so far…now we just have to meet up with Kain and everyone else in two months, and then get back safely home!"

"Right," Hinagiku agreed, more determinedly. "We can't let anyone get left behind!"

As the girls finished their bath and prepared to start on their journey again, a figure watched them from the shadows up above. "Oh, oh…a pair of important princesses!" Kinue giggled, admiring them from over her small oval spectacles. "They look tasty…I could eat them right up! Ah, how much fun it would be to go down there and play with them right now…it would almost cheer me up, since Emi- _san_ won't let me play with Erika- _ojô-sama_. But I can't play with them, either…not yet." She turned to go, casting one last small smile over her shoulder. "I need to let Emi- _san_ and Nagi- _chan_ know that I've found these two…so they can make plans to collect them. I'll see you two later…." And she was gone.

8-8-8

Mai burst from the trees and ascended slightly as she fled, flying backwards, her rings whirring. Then a huge black dragon burst out after her, its great wings pumping it into the air above the top of the forest, and it unleashed a blast of fire at the girl. She put her hands out in front of her and her shield flashed visible, causing the flames to engulf but flow around a perfect sphere-shaped barrier. Just after the flames died, however, the dragon's mouth closed on top of Mai and her defensive bubble with a snap.

The dragon hovered for a few seconds, beating its wings, struggling to gnash its teeth upon the girl, but then Mai heaved the mouth open and popped out. She started away towards the ground and the dragon pursued her, roaring in rage.

Down below, Hinagiku waited, Shirozakura in her hands. "Incoming!" Mai yelled, and soon sailed past her companion. As the dragon dove for her in pursuit, Hinagiku leapt. Her sword came around in a savage arc and connected with the side of the dragon's head, snapping off one of the two horns that protruded, bull-like, from its head. The stricken horn flew off and impaled into the ground, while the dragon pitched to the side, spinning, and crashed heavily into the ground, causing quite a furrow as its momentum carried it until it bowled over a few smaller trees at the edge of the woods and came to a stop.

Hinagiku gave a kind of huff of satisfaction and relief. Mai came circling back around towards her, clapping as she slowly descended to light upon the ground next to her. "Well done! You took it down in just one hit! Even feral dragons like this are nasty opponents. To manage that…."

"Well, I won't lie…it's largely because of Shirozakura." Hinagiku held her blade up before her at arm's length and examined it critically. "I can really feel the difference between using this thing and just practicing with an ordinary _shinai_. Even though I'm kind of getting used to using _ki_ or magic or the contract power or whatever to strengthen myself, it's still not as much power as Shirozakura gives off on its own…."

"It probably wouldn't be as great if it weren't in your hands, though," Mai pressed. She gazed over at the dragon. "It's not dead, right? The mayor said he didn't really want it killed…I don't really get it, but…will it really be okay after that…?"

"No, it's fine…look." The dragon twitched and began to stir. It finally rolled onto to its feet and whipped its great head around to stare at Mai and Hinagiku. The former flinched and took back into the air, floating backwards just slightly as she lifted off the ground about a foot, but Hinagiku remained calm as she stared at it, one hand on her sword's hilt as she rested it, point first, in the ground. Finally the dragon pulled itself fully from the trees, spread its great wings, and with a few beats that almost made the earth around them shake, catapulted itself back into the air. After a few circles to gain altitude, it flew back over the trees and disappeared from sight.

"The loss of its horn cows it," Hinagiku explained. "I read about that in a book on Arcanus Myrror's fauna. It will regrow the horn in about a year, but until then it will be docile and far more circumspect in its hunting. And it will remember to stay away from human towns for quite a bit longer than that."

Mai stared at her. "T-that's our _kaichô_ …I can't believe you've been able to read so much since we've arrived here. And I'm surprised at how quickly you've adjusted to this magical world…."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hinagiku asked, her voice dripping with a mixture of sweetness and suspicion.

"Oh, nothing, nothing…I just mean, Hina- _san_ , that you were always…so level-headed back home, you didn't even want to _believe_ in magic at first, even after making a contract with Kain- _sensei_ and all that. But now, you're learning magic, studying up on Arcanus Myrror, purchasing all kinds of magical items…."

"Well, it _is_ really difficult to come to terms with this," Hinagiku said matter-of-factly, although as Mai had mentioned this 'difficulty' didn't seem to slow her down at all. "I'm just looking at it like one of those silly video games, really. To play the game, you have to know the rules, so I'm doing all I can to master them." She reached into her small purse and removed a volume twice its size. "So I'm collecting what books I can, learning what spells make life easier, and gathering anything that can be useful. It's not hard if you put your mind to it like that. Chisame- _san_ is probably doing the same thing."

"Hmm…I guess so." She turned and flew over to the horn, lighting down next to it. "In any case, we can take this horn back to the elder as proof of our victory, right?"

"That's right," Hinagiku agreed, walking over to join her. "We need to find some way to carry it…."

Even as she spoke, Mai reached out, pulled the horn (which was at least as big as she was) out of the ground without effort, and dropped it across her shoulder. She turned back to Hinagiku with a smile. "Okay! Let's go!"

Hinagiku stared at Mai for a second, then sighed. "And you say _I_ am adjusting to all this with surprising speed," she quipped with a small smile.

8-8-8

The guards at the gate gaped as the two girls came walking back up the road towards the wall. They shouted and exclaimed, too indistinct for the redheads to make out, but one disappeared from sight and moments later the gate opened up for them.

Just beyond the gate was a gaping, gawking crowd of people, with the mixed faces of those people native to this strange magic world—in addition to humans, there were a few elves, a pale elf-like race called syrium, dwarves, animal-like folk called neocolom, and even a few _yôkai_ among them.

"He-e-y! That's the black dragon's horn, isn't it?" exclaimed one cat-faced man.

"Mai- _chan_ , you really did it?" demanded one woman with the ears of a bear.

"Those little girls actually pulled it off!" proclaimed a more normal human.

"Damn! That Hinagiku- _san_ is the real deal, huh?" added the syrium man next to him.

The two ladies tried to endure the excited congratulations of the townsfolk around them. Some advised them to go collect their reward from the mayor posthaste, while others thanked them for their service and talked about how it would take forever for the country's border guards to arrive in order to take care of menace as dangerous as a huge dragon….

Finally they were able to push through and deliver it to the mayor. Upon exiting his manor and beholding their burden, he became quite pleased and began ordering the crowd of gawking followers. A group of burly men (of various races) soon appeared out of the crowd with a wagon and loaded up the dragon's horn, and the mayor bid the ladies join him inside. "It's just about lunch time," he explained. "And you two must be famished after tangling with something like that. I truly feel dreadful leaving such a situation in your hands, but you took care of it just like you said you could…we are truly very grateful."

A fine table was set for them, and food was brought out almost before they had sat down. "A dragon's horn, ground down, has all sorts of uses," the old man explained. "It's an ingredient in many rare alchemical formulae, and can be added by skilled smiths into any weapons and armor they forge, strengthening them and making them more resistant to heat and fire. The price of a horn that size is sizeable…which means your payment is equally so." At this command, a maid appeared, actually carrying a heavy purse on a silver platter.

Mai was surprised at the size but couldn't really calculate it, as unused to the currency as she was, but Hinagiku, who had indeed put her considerable genius to integrating herself into her new surroundings, recognized the sum the reward suggested and balked. "W-we can't possibly accept that much," she protested. "I mean, we need…."

"As wanted fugitives, you have _many_ needs," the mayor insisted. "Things are tough for people like you, I know. But don't worry so much about us…to be honest, we're almost gouging you, as the price that horn will fetch us will more than make up for the posted reward for the job you accepted and the bonus we're giving you for the horn itself, several times over. Our town will be fine…more than fine."

"Do you _harvest_ that dragon regularly to keep the town wealthy?" Hinagiku questioned, managing to keep her tone conversational and not suspicious.

The mayor laughed. "Not really. It's very useful to keep around, you see, because having a dragon nearby keeps the intrusion of other monsters to a minimum and even reduces the number of bandits and such that operate in the area. We leave it alone, and we're happy when it leaves us alone. It—and its forebears—have called this portion of the wilderness home for many generations, and usually they don't bother us. But when they do—usually every decade or so—something has to be done to drive them away. Sometimes we get a horn out of it, sometimes we don't, and sometimes adventurers make off with a horn themselves. It's just a part of life. Now, dig in! We realize you can't stay long, but we're going to treat you well as long as you do!"

8-8-8

The next morning the mayor and a few of their closer friends they'd made in town saw them off as they headed out just before daybreak. "Thank you for everything," Hinagiku offered, bowing.

The mayor waved her away. "Think nothing of it. We owe you far more—if the dragon had gone unchecked, we might not have had a town anymore. And so, I have one last thing to give you…a warning. Word is a bounty hunter group is in the area, and they've been asking about you two, specifically.

Mai almost sighed and laughed at the same time. "Yeah, we're used to that," she finally said with a wry smile. "I've lost track of how many we've had to deal with since we arrived…."

"I understand, but there seems to be something different about this group," the old man continued. "Nunzo, who stopped by on his trade route from Iminar yesterday, says that they seem to know an awful lot about you…and the pictures they were showing around were of your common traveling clothes there, not the, ah, uniforms that you are wearing in all the official bounty posters."

Hinagiku narrowed her eyes. "I see," she muttered. "Can you describe these bounty hunters?"

"There were three women and a man…the man and one of the women were syrium, with their usual traits—long blue-grey hair, pale skin, and large pointed ears and narrow eyes. The other two women were humans, both young and fetching from what he says, one with strawberry-blond hair and dressed like some kind of traveling entertainer, the other smaller with long black hair, dressed in a ceremonial priestess _kimono_."

They thanked the mayor once again for his help and then started on their way.

Hinagiku seemed quite lost in thought, walking along the road with her head bowed and arms crossed, but one hand fingering her chin. Mai let her own for a while, but eventually her curiosity got the better of her. "Something on your mind, Hina- _san_?"

"Well, it's hard to tell for certain with those brief secondhand descriptions," Hinagiku replied. "But they sounded familiar. Specifically, they match some of the girls that we battled in the Gateport. If only I'd had pictures of them…I could have asked…."

"Then…the Obsidian Star?" Mai shook her head. "Of course…they're after me…."

"N-now, now…we don't know that for certain," Hinagiku protested. "We just need to keep an eye out, that's all. It could just be a coincidence…and as you said, we've already dealt with plenty of bounty hunters so far. We'll handle it." She smiled bravely at her friend.

"R-right," Mai agreed. "You're right. We just have to hold on until we arrive at Orimus…."

8-8-8

"I told you, I don't like those!" the blue-haired girl insisted. "I sometimes wonder, Luana, if you have anything but space between those ears of yours!"

Luana smiled back at the antagonist. "Why, I'm surprised you can see my ears, Fyuria- _chan_ , when they're so insignificant compared to yours. Even so, you apparently didn't hear the last few times I mentioned it: if you want to decide our menu, you should help with the cooking. Otherwise, it's the chef's choice what we eat. Isn't that fair?"

As Fyuria fumed, Luana continued, "Of course, if you're not satisfied with my cooking, you could always ask Eminus- _sama_ to send you off with Elaine next time…she's always looking for excuses to practice her cooking…."

Fyuria's angry glower turned into a mild expression of panic. "N-no…there's no need for that…forget about it…." Grumbling, the syrium girl rose and stalked away from the fire.

Yayoi watched the pair with mild admiration. They were so energetic, outgoing, and beautiful…everything she wasn't. She was quite at ease in their presence. She wished that she could be half so useful to Eminus as they were….

They were equals and opposites. Fyuria was a syrium, an elf-like race that proclaimed itself that the 'Children of the Night'. They worshipped and revered the moon, and were largely nocturnal. Their entire race had very pale skin, almost albino, and hair in various shades of blue. Like the more common elves they superficially resembled, they were skilled in magic and incredibly long-lived, and they usually kept themselves in their villages of their own kind, apart from humanity and the other races. And, naturally, the human-dominated kingdoms had a tendency to distrust them and displace or destroy their villages when they were expanding their influence. It seemed to be how Fyuria and her brother had come to join Eminus. Fyuria's appearance was unique—she kept her long hair in two great pigtails, and, despite her rather flat chest, she covered her torso with nothing more than a few strips of cloth, and even her belt and the two wide-bladed daggers that hung from it seemed to cover more of her than her hot pants did.

Despite this absurdly light attire, she was not the one who resembled a traveling entertainer. That distinction was the domain of Luana, who had medium-length strawberry-blond hair running down to the small of her back, adorned by a large ribbon placed on the back of her head, and rising up to almost give her the appearance of animal ears from certain angles. Her dress consisted of an entertainer's uniform that could best be described as a bustier with a not-quite-skirt—four pieces of fabric extended from the 'corners' of her waist. Long arm stockings that went past her elbows and stockings past her knees kept her actual exposed flesh to a minimum, but, combined with her quite exquisite figure, served to make her much more alluring than Fyuria's partial nudity. While Fyuria was dour and often acted angry—and Luana called her a _tsundere_ rather constantly, much to the syrium's annoyance—Luana was cheerful, friendly, and unflappable. She also had a tendency to speak about the world as if it was a fairy tale and she the heroine of it, a trait that particularly aggravated Fyuria. Apparently, they had been quite at odds for a long time, but had become fast friends over their time together, and now merely maintained their relationship, because of their unique personalities, as a kind of comedy routine.

Yayoi herself was smaller, slender, and, looking at the two, quite self-conscious. She had a rather Japanese appearance about her, in her face, her long dark hair, and her incredibly exquisite dress. Her elaborate and almost indescribable _kimono_ , which just from the massive ribbon that adorned the _obi_ on its front probably contained more cloth than Fyuria's entire outfit, was somewhat cumbersome, but she would rarely dress in anything else—perhaps it reminded her of her days as the priestess of Yamato, before she was to be sacrificed to the village's 'guardian god'—before Eminus had arrived and put a stop to it.

Yayoi was eighteen, a year older than Luana, but she constantly looked to Luana like a big sister. There were obviously several reasons for this sentiment—for one thing, she was Yayoi's _senpai_ amongst Eminus' charges, having been with Eminus and his associates since her village was destroyed in war years ago, while Yayoi's attachment was only recent. And because of that, Luana, who had wandered about for years as Eminus' spy while in her guise as a traveling entertainer, was much more experienced with the world than Yayoi, who had been sequestered in the almost unknown backwater village of her birth.

"How are things coming along, Yayoi- _chan_?" Luana asked, breaking through Yayoi's thoughts.

"O-oh! I'm ready here!" She brought over the vegetables she'd been preparing and poured them into Luana's soup.

Luana began to stir again, but was soon interrupted as a shadow loomed over them. She looked up at him with a smile. "Ah, Zerva- _san_. Some news?"

" _Nii-san_?" Fyuria reappeared and regarded her brother coolly. "Back already?"

Zerva, Fyuria's older brother, was obviously a syrium, with the same long shining blue-grey hair and pale skin. He was dressed in a black bodysuit and carried a menacing deathscythe. "It appears we've stumbled upon our prey by accident. They're camped not far from here."

"Oh? Well, let me set this aside…."

"Forget the food. This was the whole reason we've come out to this place," Zerva insisted, and disappeared into the brush."

Luana sighed. "So businesslike…doesn't appreciate the effort of us womenfolk at all…."

"Complain later," Fyuria barked, hurrying after her brother.

Luana sighed and set the pot over a lightly-simmering fire. "We better go, Yayoi- _chan_ ," she remarked. "No play before work, after all…."

" _H-hai_!"

8-8-8

Mai and Hinagiku were probably the most well-fed vagabonds on the planet. Mai was a skilled cook and, truth be told, it was the one thing in life she really took pride in. Spending time to cook each of their meals was a significantly pleasant distraction for her. And Hinagiku was no slouch in the kitchen—or at the campfire—either. Cooking was one of her many skills, all of which she took great pride in, and she couldn't stand by and be served constantly when she could contribute, and so she insisted on aiding in the preparation of meals as well. And Mai's dedication and skill fueled Hinagiku's competitive drive. Her desire 'to not lose', no matter the circumstance, led to their meals being a rather high-energy affair…possibly more intense, even, than their regular sparring sessions.

We could make jokes and anecdotes and use lines from cooking-based manga for this situation, but we'll forebear. You can thank us later.

And so they were just sitting down to enjoy their specially-prepared meal when the visitor suddenly appeared. "Why, that does smell heavenly!" the blond woman declared, emerging from the bushes. "I work hard to make sure our wilderness meals aren't lacking, but your dinner simply seems divine! I don't suppose you'd let me have a taste…?"

Mai and Hinagiku glanced up at her in shock, then leapt to their feet. "You!" Hinagiku declared. "You're one of them…from the Gateport!"

Luana stared at her, surprised. Then she laughed and rubbed her head. "Oh, that's right…we were all back there, weren't we? Sorry about that…I don't suppose we could let bygones be bygones…?"

"What are you doing, Luana!?" Fyuria demanded angrily, dropping down next to her. "There goes our surprise attack!"

"Ah, sorry, Fyuria- _chan_! But you know I'm not much of a sneak-attack person…I'm more a 'save myself from slavering monsters' person…."

 _('Is this girl…an idiot or…?')_ Mai and Hinagiku thought together.

"Never mind." Zerva suddenly appeared next to them. "Let's just get this over with." He brandished his scythe. "I am Zerva. Prepare yourself."

Mai and Hinagiku summoned their artifacts. As they did, Luana drew a card and, with a word, transformed it into a pair of half-moon blades. Mai rose up slightly into the air. "So…the Obsidian Star? Well then, come and get us!"

"Gladly. Fireball!"

Zerva's missile flew towards them. Mai reached out a hand and the spell exploded with a harmless pop into nothing. This action was the cue to starting the battle in full.

Drawing her wide-bladed daggers, Fyuria charged forward. Hinagiku moved and met her with Shirozakura. The pair exchanged blows for several seconds. "Not bad, being able to keep up with my speed," Fyuria commented. "Try this! Vanish Trick!" She hopped backwards and, indeed, vanished.

Hinagiku didn't react strongly, instead setting herself and letting her senses—all her senses—out around her. Suddenly Fyuria came attacking, practically from all four sides at once. Her blades moved like a deadly dance, but Hinagiku's sword met them each and every time, finally throwing Fyuria away before she could complete the attack. The syrium looked up in shock. "Did she really…block them all!?"

"Well, it's not that hard," Hinagiku commented nonchalantly. "It's nothing compared to what I've been dealing with lately. Now, my turn!" She charged forward.

Fyuria parried her attacks, then jumped back again. "Ascension!" she cried, pointing hand forward. A burst of white light streaked towards Hinagiku, who parried the attack away harmlessly.

Mai was dealing with the other three while Hinagiku continued her battle. Her first opponent turned out to be Yayoi when she suddenly began casting from the edge of the trees. "Frozen Ray!" she called after her chant. A block of ice appeared above Mai's head, and then a beam of light flew from her staff and hit the ice, which acted like some sort of prism, trapping and enhancing the light…and then dropping it on top of Mai.

Mai's shield absorbed all the energy of the attack, but it was then followed up by Luana and Zerva, who were chanting in unison. Flame erupted around them both, but especially around Zerva. He launched himself at Mai, his scythe and even his whole body trailing flame, and Luana threw her chakram-like weapons after him, which circled him like fast-orbiting planets. "Scarlet Peony!"

He brought his scythe down, but Mai again blocked it with her shield…and an instant later all the flames around Zerva went out. Luana's blades stopped and dropped onto the ground before vanishing and reappearing in her hands. Zerva stared down at Mai in shock. "What!?"

"Sorry…but you should realize by now that those just don't work on me." Activating her _kanka_ , she kicked him away. Then she sent a flurry of fiery bolts at Yayoi and Luana, forcing them back.

Zerva landed next to the two girls, and Fyuria slid back to join them, panting. They stared across at their two opponents as the girls readied themselves. "Well…" Zerva murmured. "It appears these two are as dangerous as Nagi said they would be. The Crystal Princess, in particular, is most impressive…."

"You don't seem like you're all bad—not for members of the Obsidian Star," Mai commented. "Why don't you just leave us alone? There's no reason for us to fight here…."

"Ah, I wish I could agree!" Luana sighed. "But unfortunately, fighting is the only thing we _can_ do. The world we want won't be created if we do nothing. Sorry about this…."

"I guess all we can use is the trump card…" Yayoi murmured.

"Right." Zerva drew forth an amulet. "I had hoped that we could manage this without resorting to such measures, but if there is no choice…."

"What is it?" Mai demanded, floating back defensively.

"I don't know," Hinagiku growled. "I wish we had Yue- _chan_ or someone with the ability to analyze it and tell us what it does…."

"Don't worry too much!" Luana said cheerfully, appearing above her. "You still have us to deal with!" She tossed her rings at Hinagiku.

Hinagiku parried the rings but they bounced and came back in again of their own volition. As Hinagiku dealt with them, she lost track of Luana until the girl suddenly was within her reach and in her face. She reached a hand out. A flash of magic filled Hinagiku's vision.

When the light faded, Hinagiku found Luana gone…but then the ground underneath her suddenly shuddered and burst upward, leaving her standing on top of a swiftly-ascending pillar of rock. She dropped to her knees in shock and fright as her acrophobia took over.

Mai stared down at Hinagiku, who was kneeling, frozen, trembling, for apparently no reason. "H-Hinagiku?" she demanded with evident concern.

"Worry about yourself," Zerva snapped, and the amulet he was holding flashed to life. Mai whirled back around to him and watched in horror as the amulet began to take the shape of a spider.

She began to fly towards Hinagiku—seeking, perhaps, to recover her comrade and flee from this rapidly-changing situation—but the spider amulet suddenly began to spray a cloud of threads towards her. She raised and hand towards them and put up her shield…but the threads wove right through the shield as if it wasn't there. They wrapped around her, binding her wrists and neck and torso and….

 _[The small child didn't shiver. She didn't quiver or make any type of sound or motion. She sat silently in a throne of webs, the strands clinging lightly to her hair and clothes. Behind her loomed the enormous spider that was the source of the webs. Its legs moved softly, caressing her, gently, almost tenderly._

 _Nagi smiled down at her. "Just be a good girl, Mai-_ chan _," he murmured. "Yes…Kalan Lockeheart took you from us before, but now that we've gotten you back, you're going to do what we created you for in the first place…."]_

Fyuria stared as the webs faded, but Mai sat there, shivering, still, staring but unseeing. Both Mai and Hinagiku were now overcome with demons that only they could perceive. "That's…it?" she muttered. "With all their power, especially with their anti-magic, and these hallucinations…have overcome them?"

"Katsura Hinagiku- _sama_ wields Shirozakura, a powerful anti-magic sword," Yayoi explained, approaching carefully. "It can stop almost any direct magical attack, but it isn't a perfect defense…it won't stop mind-affecting magic. And Tokiha Mai- _sama_ is the Crystal Princess, a perfect master of the magical energy of Arcanus Myrror, but created by the Obsidian Star…and they prepared all the countermeasures to control her…."

A light breeze began to blow in, lightly ruffling hair and clothes. "And that's that," Zerva muttered, pocketing the amulet. "Let's take these two prisoners and get out of here…."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Zerva paused, and all four turned to observe the young man as he came walking into the fading light of dusk. Average height, nondescript messy brown hair and dark eyes, a long white coat over dull and rather drab traveling clothes…the new arrival wasn't much to behold. The long, curved sword he carried was the only remarkable thing about him. "Those two girls are friends of mine. I think you'd better just leave them and go, or we'll have to come to a disagreement."

Zerva narrowed his eyes at the man. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Just a friend," he replied. "No one important."

"Ah, how romantic!" Luana declared. "The young prince on his white steed has come to rescue his damsels in distress! Well," she amended, "white coat, rather than white steed, perhaps, but anyway, what I wouldn't give for such a dedicated young swain…."

"More nonsense," Fyuria snapped. "Do you really think you can take all four of us on by yourself, boy?"

"By myself? Not at all," Kajirô Tsukai denied, raising his sword. "But while I'm unimportant, you should learn the name of this sword. Bring all the world into balance, Kamikaze."

He brought to the sword up and set it parallel to the ground, then began to rotate it end over end. As he did so, the long katana's blade shrunk about a foot, but the guard disappeared and an identical blade emerged from the hilt, growing to the same length and curving the opposite direction. Finally he caught the handle, and with a vicious slash intensified the wind around them.

Zerva readied his scythe as he considered him. "A friend, you say…yet you were not with Kain Lockeheart's party when they came through the Gate. But, you must be from that side…?" He smirked slightly and shook his head. "No. No matter. If you wish to interfere, we'll crush you here and now!" And he dashed forward.

Kajirô met Zerva's attack and countered. Their weapons spun as they pitted them against each other. Kajirô whirled the double-blade around, spinning it constantly, usually in one hand, swapping back and forth between hands. The weapon stirred up and wrapped winds around with every swing.

"Not bad," Zerva commented as they strained their weapons together. "As you say, your sword is impressive, at least. However…." He shoved off and leapt backwards. Fyuria landed next to him and the pair extended their hands.

A black fog began to emit from Zerva's hands, while a light began to glow in Fyuria's grasp. In very short order—far shorter than the time it takes to explain—the fog was drawn into the light and began to become a blinding mist all on its own. "Holy Mist!"

The cloud of brilliant white shot towards Kajirô, who stood there passively. Just before it hit, a blade came sweeping around in front of him and cut the attack to ribbons.

Kajirô smiled slightly as the girl stepped in front of him. "Perfect timing, Hinagiku- _san_. Thank you."

"I should be saying that to you, Kaji- _kun_ ," Hinagiku replied with a grim smile. "You saved us again…just like so many times during the Festival…."

"So many times? I-I just remember the once…."

As the foes prepared to counterattack during this exchange, Mai's lashes of fire kept them honest and she floated down to join the pair.

"H-how can this be?" Yayoi demanded. "Those enchantments couldn't have expired already…."

Kajirô held up his sword. "My sword, Kamikaze…although wind-based weapons are famous for speed and offense, my sword's ultimate power is defensive in nature. That wind, that gentle breeze that's been here since the beginning, is my Wind of Balance. It prevents any ability, poison, or enchantment that seeks to restrict, impede or bind me…or those I choose to protect. It doesn't matter what your abilities are or what they intend to do…if they cannot reach their targets, they have no power."

The seven combatants observed each other. "Well," Luana remarked with, for her, quite unusual seriousness, "what do we do now? Our aces are sealed, so what is our play? Press our numbers advantage?"

"Technique Style—Eighth Leaf," a quiet, demure voice intoned. "The Four Faces of Takemika Muchi!"

The four jumped away just before the attack finished forming underneath them, scattering. Isumi Saginomiya stepped forward, brandishing another prayer strip. "Do not presume. I will be your opponent," she said, and despite her almost comical size and obvious youth, there was some truly real threat in her stance.

"And now we're even," Mai declared. "Four on four. Well?"

Zerva gritted his teeth and readied his weapon, but Luana tapped him on the shoulder. "I think we've had our fill for now. We should retreat."

"But…!" Fyuria began.

"Our powers are bound, in many ways," Yayoi pointed out. "This battle…it no longer favors us."

Circles of light appeared around the four and they began to vanish. Luana actually waved as they disappeared. "Bye-bye! Maybe next time we can do something a little more peaceful!"

And then they were gone. The four stared after them for a few seconds before the tension broke. Kajirô flicked his weapon, returning it to a sword, and then pantomimed sheathing it, causing it to vanish. Hinagiku and Mai returned their artifacts to cards and Isumi wandered over to them.

"You're a lifesaver, Tsukai- _kun_ , Isumi- _chan_ ," Mai sighed. "You arrived just in the nick of time!"

"We would have arrived sooner, but I lost track of Isumi- _chan_ so many times I finally had to give up on her and come on my own," Kajirô remarked, and Isumi began to fume futily.

"But how did you get here?" Hinagiku demanded. "The Gateports were all destroyed when we went through…."

"It's a long story…but a few of us were sent after you from our Gate in Japan when we heard that there might be trouble, and we got through just before the disaster…."

He trailed off as he sensed Hinagiku's unusual silence. She was looking down, and slowly raised a crazed face up to stare at him, causing him to shrink as her anger oozed out like a miasma. "Our Gate…in Japan…" she repeated. "We had a Gate…in Japan…and _I_ had to board an _airplane_ and fly to _America_ to go through…?"

"T-that was Kain- _kun_ 's decision," Kajirô protested. "He wanted to visit his hometown before making the trip…."

The boy was surprised at how quickly his explanation diffused the girl's anger. "O-oh…that's right," she murmured. "I guess that was…the point behind it all, wasn't it…?" She shook her head and showed a brave smile. "No, never mind. I'm in your debt again, Kaji- _kun_ …thank you."

"Y-yeah…no problem…."

"In any case, we came to rescue you," Isumi remarked. "Now that we're here, you have nothing to worry about. We'll get you back to earth without problem."

"Well, that's reassuring," Mai remarked. "But how are we going to do it? The way to Earth is sealed, after all…."

Isumi paused, flummoxed, and Kajirô remarked dryly, "Oh, that's the easy part. We just have to ask Isumi- _chan_ to take us anywhere _but_ Earth and we'll wind up there somehow through her remarkable powers…."

F I N

 _Author's Note: Character Introduction: Fyuria, Zerva, Luana and Yayoi_

 _A bit of action, a bit of adventure, a bit of girl talk, and a stage set for two of our favored heroines. They've been joined by a pair of 'The Rescuers', or whatever you want to call the back-up team that came through the portal in order to help out, right before everything fell apart (see Act 8). With Kajirô and Isumi on hand as well, they are now a formidable team._

 _I would first like to point out that these separate adventures are not necessarily chronologically secure. For the most part, each story is so separate they don't need to be in an overlapping timeline—they are just snapshots of significant events on the course of everyone's gathering in Orimus. Now then…._

 _The intro of this was partially adapted from the Magic World introduction of their base/inspiration, Asuna and Setsuna's pair. As I've noted before, Mai closely draws from Asuna's status and much of Momo's base in this world was drawn from Setsuna, but in this case I decided to replace Setsuna with Hinagiku because a) Mai and Momo have already done so much together and b) Hinagiku with Mai makes a more interesting, not-yet-seen-before dynamic. This works in several ways, and this bath scene is one—in the original, Setsuna is taking a break to bathe and even wash her wings, while Asuna decides to suddenly attack her in order to spar and improve her fighting (don't ask me—probably Akamatsu's excuse for more fan service). After the spar, Asuna decides to join Setsuna in the spring and Setsuna, very self-conscious, is a little put off by this. I adapted this scene, sans the crazy spar (for many reasons—unlike Setsuna, Hinagiku is not a battle level for Mai to aspire to) for a couple reasons, largely for the girl bonding and girl talk, developing their thoughts on their situation, et al, and partially for the comic of showing their different opinions towards same-gender 'skinship'. The 'wow, your skin is smooth and beautiful' poke/stroke is another random common anime bath scene item, and Mai was a perpetrator once in My-HiME (towards Shiho) and Hinagiku was once a victim (of Ayumu), so mixing them with that was amusing (and it's usually amusing when the flat-chested girl is the victim of such attention, because they always seem like they'd trade that silky-smooth skin for better 'assets'). In addition, Mai was shown to be, while not boastful and prone to flaunting, understandably proud of her assets and quite comfortable with being amongst other girls in the nude, while Hinagiku always seemed to have this as one of her few weaknesses. It is not shown as a crippling weakness, as Hinagiku rarely likes to show those, but she was rather ill at ease in the hot springs Hayate story, and a recurring running gag in Hayate had someone—usually her sister, Yukiji—bursting in on Hinagiku when she's in the middle of changing, and she gets very put out by this and punishes the interloper while proclaiming the virtues of knocking. Oddly, no one pointed out to her the virtues of locking the door…. I have used this gag once before (during one of the side stories) and alluded to it with Hinagiku's rant. So, it just became a character contrast point._

 _The adventure with the dragon was adapted from the second Asuna/Setsuna lens glance, which coincides with their meeting up with Kaede and Konoka. In fact, the actual dragon-smiting and subsequent village celebration were actually stolen (and adapted) from Kaede & Konoka's version. It gives a nice view into some of what the pair have been doing with their time, and, of course, sets up the conflict._

 _Which brings us to their four opponents, four more characters from Record of Agarest War. They will make a nice collection of villains to dog the heroes during their travels…._

 _F yuria is the first of the three heroines of the First Generation. As shown, she is the most remarkably underdressed (and least deserving of it) of the ladies in RoAW. She is quite a_ tsundere _brat, at first suspicious of Leonhardt because he was a famous general of her enemy, Gridamas, but eventually warms up to him and, of course, falls for him. Mostly I always found her annoying, but she was uses. She used light magic and a variety of speed-based skills, and twin daggers._

 _L uana is the second of the First Generation's three heroines, and my personal favorite of that group. She is cute and energetic, seemingly flighty and (to serious people like Fyuria) totally air-headed, but it's all a front—while acting as a traveling entertainer, she is actually a spy of Regulus and a skilled fighter and mage. Nonetheless, she does seem to like talking about herself as if she were a fairy tale princess, and immediately warms up to Leo, seeing him as her 'knight in shining armor'._

 _Y ayoi is the third of the Second Generation's heroines encountered, but the first to actually be recruited. She is my favorite and that group, and perhaps my favorite of the 'primary' heroine group of the first four generations (that is, not including those that bridge them like Ellis). She is quiet, demure, and sensitive, a Yamato Nadeshiko, or 'ideal Japanese beauty'. She is originally a priestess of the village Yamato, which is 'protected' by a guardian god, which every generation must consume the village's priestess in order to uphold his protection. Of course this is the ruse of a fallen divine spirit, and the party arrives and puts a stop to this and Dyshana, the manipulative Grand Designer, recruits her into the party. She is a great spellcaster with many interesting abilities._

 _A nd Zerva is Fyuria's brother. Initially battling Gridamas alongside Winfield, when Fyuria is recruited she leads the party to find him, and after initially battling Leo, joins the party. Although suspicious at first, he warms up to Leo's honor and nobility and promises to watch his descendants when the first adventure ends. He is serious and taciturn, and does not care for Winfield's chicaneries. He is a fighter/mage with mixed abilities, including fire and dark magic._

 _And this will be the last of these characters we'll see for a while. Mai, Hinagiku, Kajirô and Isumi have more adventures ahead…but before that, we will move on to Akari and Ami._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Two: The Martial Artists

Ami watched the hut through her visor. Its magical scanning waves passed through the walls and highlighted the humanoid forms therein, bringing up data for her education.

"They're inside," she announced, returning the visor to its book form. "Six of them—they seem to have a lot of ' _ki_ ', just as the report said."

"Right," Akari agreed, cracking her knuckles. "Just give me a minute. I'll take care of this quickly."

"Do you have to go alone? I could help…."

"Not this time," Akari denied. "It's going to be pretty close quarters in there, so I better handle this by myself. I'll need your help later on."

She strode into the clearing and on up to the cabin. She brashly threw the door open…she did not open it softly, nor did she knock it down with a savage kick or punch, but simply pushed the door open with speed and authority, startling the six vagabonds therein. "Now then…'Purple Fog'," she said brightly. "That weird name isn't a crime, but most of the rest of what you've done is. Are you going to come quietly, or do I have to get rough?"

The six men stared at her, then with a mixture of laughs, curses, and comments like, 'Who does this girl think she is?', they leapt at her.

Ami watched the cabin, her ears picking up the sounds of beatings and breaking furniture and walls within. At one point two men went flying outside simultaneously, one through a window and the other through the wall next to it, and landed heavily on the ground and lay still. After about a minute the sounds died off and, a few seconds later, Akari came walking out, dragging four large, burly men behind her. She tossed them on top of their prone fellows and slapped her hands together. "Well, that's done. They have a pretty hefty bounty on them, right?"

"Yes…it's 15,000 juls for the lot of them. That'll keep us going for a while, and get us from fresh new disguises. We haven't had a lot of problems, but as we get closer to greater civilization, we'll probably be under greater scrutiny."

She pulled out a small capsule from a case she carried and threw it into the air. After an explosion of smoke, there suddenly appeared a large sled, to which Akari quickly tied her six senseless victims. Soon the two were making their way back towards the town where they had found the bounty notice for the Purple Fog, Akari dragging the sled behind her.

"Even with all that's been going on, you've been dedicating yourself to your martial arts, Akari- _san_ ," Ami noted. "Are you training to enter that tournament that Kain- _sensei_ was talking about?"

"Ah…that would be fun," Akari declared. "But I don't think I'll be able to. He has a perfect disguise, you know…but I don't think I could make it past the scrutiny of such a high-level, well-publicized tournament, even with how we've managed so far."

"That is true…I was worrying about that," Ami admitted.

"Yeah…so, I'm just training like I always do, like I did long before I met Kain- _sensei_. I'm just perfecting my martial arts. The Americans, you probably know, called the Chinese _kenpo_ that they saw 'kung fu', but that term, while important to _kenpo_ , is an important source of philosophy for all of Chinese culture…."

"Yes," Ami agreed. "A painter or poet can have 'kung fu', the beautiful mastery of his craft. In other words, you are still pursuing your 'kung fu?' Above and beyond everything else?"

Akari chuckled at that comment. "Yes…'above and beyond'. I've been raised by true masters, so my entire life has revolved around my martial arts, but now, after that attack by the Obsidian Star…I can't sit back and say 'one day I'll equal the masters'. Now I've got to get stronger…strong enough to support Kain- _sensei_ and protect our other classmates during this time." She smiled at her companion. "Of course, the same goes for you. You've been as dedicated to your 'kung fu' all this time—studying, and now your own magical work."

"Y-yes, I suppose that's true," Ami allowed.

Akari threw her free arm around Ami's shoulders. "And so, here's the two of us, two earnest disciples pursuing kung fu together!"

Ami giggled, but it was quite subdued, and Akari picked up on it. "Is something the matter, Ami- _chan_?" she pressed.

"No…well…I'm just worried…."

"Why? We're doing all right, aren't we?"

"No, not us…our friends. And…I have to admit…my friends, especially. I was lucky, ending up with you like this…but Nodoka and Yue…who knows what's happened to them…?"

"You won't sleep any better worrying about them. Besides, Yuecchi and Honya- _chan_ are strong, and they've been working hard themselves just for situations like this."

Ami was quiet for a moment. "But don't you…worry about Tsukimori- _san_ and Tsukino- _san_?"

"Hmm. Not really." Akari gave it some thought, but her denial was remarkably lighthearted and easy. "This is the kind of thing we've been training for since we were small…well, not _just_ like this, not with, like, dragons and stuff, but surviving in the wild surrounding by hostile enemies…that's just a normal weekend outing for us. They'll find their way through, better than anyone.

"Besides, I can't waste energy worrying about them. Like I said, you don't sleep any better…you just waste energy. They're your friends, and…right now, you just have to put your faith in them. We'll find them all again, somehow."

"Right…you're right, Akari- _san_." Ami smiled, more bravely. "We just need faith…."

8-8-8

"This new disguise you found is pretty good, Ami- _chan_ ," Akari mentioned, playing with the little amulet around her neck as they left the bounty hunters' office, tossing her purse up and catching it. "For the most part, we can avoid a lot of attention with these. As fun as it was taking down the first few guys coming after us, it makes it really tough to visit civilization…."

Ami glanced over at Akari and smiled. It had been expensive, but was quite useful—to her sight, and everyone else's, Akari's hair was now silver-white and her head was adorned by wolf-like animal ears, a not-uncommon sight in this world because two races—certain breeds of the near-demon _yôkai_ , Kenjirô's kin, as well as the more 'normal' beastmen, called neocolom—had animal features of that sort. Ami herself wore a pair of the 'insignificant' glasses that generally masked her presence in the world, and allowed Akari to use her more reliable—but more expensive—disguise to do most of the interacting, so as to keep Ami from drawing enough attention to break the enchantment.

"I think that most of our friends must have found similar disguises—there's been no word that any of the 'terrible fugitives' has been caught," Ami noted. "Despite the high bounties on everyone's heads and the interest we've gathered, there's been no real news. Anything else of interest?"

"Around here, nothing much," Akari sighed. "Things seem to be quieting down, perhaps because of the Memorial Festival or whatever it is."

"That's too bad…it would be best to make sure we had a little more money before we gather at Orimus. There are any number of expenses we could incur, and…."

"Yeah, I know…and I think I did find one thing, at least, that we can do."

Ami looked at Akari seriously. "You're not planning to find a dragon and try to take its hoard, are you?"

"That would be fun, too," Akari replied cheerfully. "But not that. It might be dangerous, but I think we can handle it." She pulled out a map and pointed to it.

Ami examined it carefully. "The Latias Ruins? What is that?"

"From what I hear, they were the sight of magical war or something…." She trailed off as she saw Ami remove a book from her pack and flip through it.

"Here we are…Latias Ruins. In ancient times, it was believed this was a prison of the Takiva Empire. Or, rather, a sight of containment for magical beasts…it was also the sight of several magical research laboratories. When an enemy force assaulted the site, a backlash of chaotic energy wiped it from this world for decades. Since its return, it has been inhabited only by chaos-beasts. Oh dear." She glanced up at Akari. "And you want to explore this place…?"

"Yeah, yeah. If it was a site of magical research, it should have some artifacts or something we can get and sell, right?"

"And the chaos-beasts?"

Akari interlocked her fingers and cracked them at arm's length. "It's no fun if it's too easy to get them, right?"

8-8-8

Ami had her reservations, but in the end she agreed to follow Akari to the Latias Ruins. As she had mentioned, they needed more funds, but what they did have plenty of was time, as they wouldn't need to be at Orimus to meet up with everyone until about two months' time. That, of course, made the need for more funds to cover living expenses all the greater….

And, Ami knew, Akari was always looking for something to challenge her and improve her skills. And after seeing first-hand what the Obsidian Star was capable of, and knowing that Akari was her only protection, she was not against Akari getting as strong as possible.

She knew that there would be quite a bit of danger at the ruins, but she did not suspect that they would encounter it on the way….

But they both heard the crashing of trees, the roars and explosions coming up ahead. The two exchanged a glance. "What was that?"

"I think we better find out," Akari remarked, and started off into the thicker foliage in the direction of the noise.

"Yes, I was afraid you would say that," Ami replied, following after her.

It didn't take them any time, or any effort, to find the source of the cacophony—three black dragon-like beasts, a little larger than a horse, hovering in the air, and a fourth lying unmoving on the ground, all surrounding a young man dressed in scarred and well-used armor. He was tall and dark-haired, slightly swarthy, and carried a long, thick, double-edged sword in one hand—by its size and make, it would be called by the knowing a hand-and-a-half or bastard sword.

With a scream, one of the drakes came swooping in, unleashing a blast of flame at the young swordsman. He dove aside and immediately rose and turned to deliver a backslash against the second drake, which was sweeping around behind him. Despite the clumsy nature of the motion, the swing was fluid and graceful, and removed the drake's wing smoothly and cleanly. He dodged aside again as the shrieking monster crashed into the ground where he had been.

Before he could recover, however, the third drake came at him from behind, claws outstretched to slash at the man….

And then Akari intercepted the beast, leaping in the air to meet it and sending it flying with one _ki_ -charged punch. The drake hit the ground and bounced, rolling end-over-end in a flurry of wing and fang and scale and claw. Finally it managed to stop its descent and roll to its feet, but Akari was already on top of it again, renewing its flight with a powerful kick.

"Surprise?" the young man remarked somewhat blandly, turning his attention back to the first drake, which was finally rounding on him again.

As the maimed drake finally pulled itself up, and, flapping its one remaining wing somewhat futily and pitifully, turned to the man and began to prepare another blast of flame, when a stream of freezing-cold water blasted over its head, compliments of Ami entering the fray with her spear.

Moments later the first drake fell to the ground, slashes marring its body, and the swordsman dashed up to the maimed monster and cut its head off with one swift, clean blow.

Akari walked back to the scene, carrying the drake over her head in one hand, and dropped her burden next to the other bodies.

"I could have handled that," the man commented.

"Ah! I apologize," Akari replied impishly, bowing. "But I wanted to have some fun myself. I am…Akari, and this is my friend Ami- _chan_. Pleased to meet you."

"Delryn." He opened his grip and his sword vanished, and with a slight gesture his armor followed suit, leaving him in rugged and serviceable traveling clothes—goggles with dark lenses around his throat, a heavy mantle, baggy shirt and breeches with steel-capped heavy boots, all dark and seemingly functional. "What are two pretty young ladies like you doing out here all alone?"

Delryn's introduction caught Akari off-guard, but his further interrogation flustered both of the girls. Finally Ami managed, "W-we're…traveling to the Latias Ruins. We're planning on doing some treasure hunting there…."

"Really? What a coincidence…I'm also heading to the Latias Ruins."

"Oh?" Akari's tone was not quite suspicious as she continued, "You…are also treasure hunting there?"

"No, not treasure hunting. Monster hunting." The two girls blinked in further surprise and Delryn elucidated, "I'm planning on participating in a big tournament in a couple months, and…."

"Oh! You need to qualify?" Akari asked, her eyes lighting up a little.

"N~o, not quite," Delryn hedged. "I mean, I've already qualified. I'm just trying to get as strong as I can before the tournament happens. I don't plan on just entering—I'm going to _win_ it."

The two girls shared a glance. "I…see," Ami managed.

"In any case, if we're all going to the Latias, why don't we go together?" the young man continued smoothly. "I'd hate to see anything happen to two lovely ladies like yourselves, after all. I'll protect you, so you can collect all the treasure you like, all right?" He flashed them a dazzling smile.

The two girls blushed and exchanged a glance again. Finally Akari answered, "S-sure…it's always safer in numbers, right?"

8-8-8

Delryn was not an unpleasant companion. He was about their age—when pressed by the curious Akari, he admitted to being 'almost sixteen'—and seemed quite interested in being friendly with them. Neither Ami nor Akari was particularly knowledgeable about men, nor were they experienced with the flirtatious manner he exhibited (as has been noted, most of the few men in their lives were reserved or gentlemanly or incorrigibly dense or all three at once). Half of his conversational pieces made one or the other of the girls blush, and the rest went right over both of their heads.

Despite being somewhat flustered by this unusual brand of attention, Akari was very curious about their new companion. "It's Delryn, right? You're so young…but you're entering the Memorial Tournament in Orimus?"

"That's right," Delryn said. "Although I'll ignore comments about age from you…in any case, I've got things I have to accomplish there." He looked over and pointed. "In any case, we're here…the Latias Ruins. Once the sight of a magical prison, after a war left it saturated with chaos magic, it was abandoned and is now the well-known sight of roving chaos-beasts."

"You're well-informed," Ami remarked in surprise.

"Oh…it's just something I've picked up. Like an instinct for danger." He reached out with a hand and clenched it, and the bastard sword materialized in his grasp. "It looks like something's already coming out to defend its territory…."

Sure enough, a soft shifting of movement became audible ahead of them, finally a huge snake reared its head…and then its other head…and then its third head…and then its tail. The first head was like a stylized Oriental dragon, broad and long with elevated eyes and two long whiskers emerging from just under its enlarged nostrils. The second head was much flatter and bulkier, resembling that of a gorilla, and the third head was like a dog's, with long, sharp ears and a similarly-shaped snout. All three heads were filled with the same type of long, wickedly-sharp curved teeth. And the tail was a final, fourth head, more closely resembling a normal snake's head.

Akari readied herself, and Ami stepped back and summoned her artifact. Delryn, meanwhile, pulled up the sleeve of his left arm—quickly taking up his sword in his left hand as he did so—revealing an exquisite tattoo of a shield. The tattoo flashed, then vanished, and an instant later Delryn was equipped in the same armor he had worn in his previous encounter.

Their opponent wasted no time waiting for them, however. The three front heads all opened their mouths wide in unison, and a smoke-like surge of energy built within the grip of each maw—red from the dragon, green from the gorilla, and blue from the dog. The surges then shot beams of light of the same color as their originating clouds, all of which collided a short distance from their origin and formed a fourth, more massive, purple cloud. From this cloud there issued forth a final, purple beam of light, which shot towards them at high speed.

Delryn dashed aside immediately and Ami hurried herself out of the way. Akari faced the beam down, studying it and the creature with all her attention, and moved her upper body just enough to cleanly avoid the shot. However, the beam did not just fly off like any normal attack or missile should have—it sprouted tendrils that wrapped around her right arm and shoulder as it passed. As Akari stared at this development in shock, the beam suddenly curved around and came at her again from behind. Twisting, her arm and shoulder held by this strange magic, she managed to catch the incoming beam with her other hand, and her _ki_ strained against the opposing power.

Delryn moved to engage, using the same kind of step that Akari and Ami had seen so often from Kain and Kenjirô. As he arrived next to the beast and prepared to swing, the tail-head lashed out at him, striking with, well, snakelike speed, stopping his attack and forcing him back. The other three heads, meanwhile, were still focusing that single beam out of their combined power.

Ami finally found an action to take, and unleashed another blast of freezing-cold water at the snakehead. The attack froze it solid in a block of ice, allowing Delryn to re-engage and lop the dragon head off. This action caused all three beams to sputter out, fail, and vanish.

This, of course, freed Akari from the strange magic and allowed her to dash in and join the fight. As the snakehead freed itself from the ice and again moved to keep Delryn at bay, she moved in and began to pummel the two remaining forward heads with her free-flowing martial arts style. Finally Delryn managed to outmaneuver the snakehead and sever it after one overextended strike, and Akari finished by slamming the two final heads together with force. The heads and body fell limp to the ground, and the form soon began to dissolve into an unpleasant-smelling goo.

"T-that was…strange," Akari muttered, stepping back from the scene.

"Never faced chaos-beasts before?" Delryn asked. "They literally are nothing but monsters born from chaos magic—chaos magic is nasty, unreliable stuff, so they really are capable of anything." He noticed that Akari was almost absentmindedly rubbing her left hand and demanded, "Is your hand okay?"

"What?" Akari glanced over at him in surprise, then looked down at her left hand. Then she gasped and winced. The flesh on her hand was distorted, a mix of black, blue, red, and purple marks, similar to bruises, covering the appendage, but the 'bruises' seemed to writhe and crawl about on their own, changing place and size and shape.

Delryn hurried over and inspected it. "Looks like you blocked quite a lot of that with your _ki_ ," he remarked. "That's pretty impressive. But chaos magic can do some pretty nasty things to you if you don't treat that right. Here." He swung around the rucksack he kept tied around him, usually almost concealed behind him, and began to search it. He swiftly pulled out a jar of ointment and began to rub it over the girl's stricken limb. He followed this with bandages, wrapping them clear around.

"This is probably pretty uncomfortable for a hand-to-hand fighter," he announced finally, stepping back and inspecting his work. "If we had a real dedicated healer it would probably go a lot easier for you, but that's all I can do. It should be fine after a day. If we left it unchecked, it would change your hand into something strange or make it fall off or something like that—chaos magic is _nasty_ stuff."

"A-ah…thank you…" Akari offered meekly. She'd fought monsters and brigands and warriors galore since her arrival in Arcanus Myrror, but this was certainly a new challenge, and one that was, honestly, almost terrifying.

"Not a problem," Delryn replied, flashing his smile. "The last thing we'd want is for a pretty thing like you to be maimed." He turned away and picked up his sword again. "Are you ready to go on, or are you having second thoughts?"

"Of course not," Akari insisted, shaking off her disquiet and moving forward. "I'm always ready for more challenges."

Ami watched the pair head towards the largest of the ruin buildings, and thoughtfully followed them.

8-8-8

More beasts assaulted them as they entered, but these were not so dangerous as the monster that had barred the entrance. Even with one useable hand, Akari was easily handling the fiends that came her way, while Delryn's fluid swordsmanship proved an equal match to the foes that confronted them. Ami was left to her preferred role of analyzing threats and only occasionally offering back row magical support.

Meanwhile, Delryn's swordsmanship caught Akari's attention. "That's a rather interesting style of swordplay," she offered. "It's far more graceful than most western sword styles. It almost seems more like a katana sword style. In fact, as I think about it, it seems almost like someone I know…."

"Akari- _san_ …" Ami murmured warningly.

"It's a sword," Delryn replied dismissively, seemingly missing Akari's near-faux-pas or Ami's warning. "It's a sharp piece of metal. You swing it around. How many different ways can you really use it?"

"Oh! Well, since you ask…Hikaru- _kun_ mostly practices _iaijutsu_ , keeping his sword sheathed and focusing _ki_ in it, then using a series of slashes with his draw. Kenjirô- _kun_ uses a high-mobility, aggressive two-handed style, although now he's switched to _nitôryû_ , two-sword style, using that same attack-first mentally. Hina- _chan_ uses a basic _endo_ style, measured, swift, strength-based two-handed swings, while Kain- _sensei_ uses a mostly light-weapon fencing style with a bit of eastern-style _kenjutsu_ added to it. And, of course, Mo—"

"I get it, I get it," Delryn sighed, waving her to silence. "Have a lot of friends who use swords, do you?"

"Heh hehe…a few," Akari admitted sheepishly.

"Right. Well, I just fight how I was taught," Delryn replied flippantly. He pushed open a pair of double doors. "If you're looking for treasure, this is a pretty good place to start. It would have been…well, not quite a quartermaster's office. Some magic items the scientists and guards who worked here possessed would have been dangerous to take down below into the cells and labs, and so they would have to be checked into storage. That's what these lockers are for."

"Ah!" Akari made an exaggerated gesture to wind up her arm in preparation to smash her way into the lockers. "So, there should be treasure in here, right?"

"Don't be _too_ hasty," Delryn interjected, grabbing her wrist. "We might find some toys in there, but they could have any number of traps, safeguards, and locks. But there should be some worthwhile things in the officer's desk here."

He began rummaging through it, placing items on top of the desk and pointing out their significance—a magical pen that, when activated, would write what was dictated to it; some nonmagical but very fine china and silverware, common to the time and culture; a magical wand charged with attack spells for defense; a few other odds and ends of either archaeological or magical significance, or both.

"You're _very_ well-informed," Akari remarked, almost with awe.

"It's…just something I've picked up," Delryn remarked hesitantly.

He glanced over at Ami and started. The girl was examining the lockers from behind her visor. Before Delryn could even vocalize a proper objection, Ami manipulated the locking mechanism on the first locker and opened it.

"W-what are you doing?" he finally managed. "That could have been trapped!"

"W-what?" she responded. "Well, it was. It was a fairly simple trap…I just disarmed it."

Delryn stared at her for a few seconds. "You…disarmed it? Just like that? Where'd you learn to do _that_?"

"Well, it's not that much different from the things we do at my school club…."

"…Really? What kind of school club is this?"

"Just our library club…."

"….And what kind of school do you go to again?"

8-8-8

"So much activity," Nanami remarked as she leaned against the railing of her ship. The _El-Hazard_ , apparently without a whole lot of input from her, was sailing far above the clouds. "Everyone seems to be very active…and according to all the reports, none of our friends have been apprehended yet."

"Yes, but it is likely only a matter of time," murmured Rei softly from beside her. "Is it really all right for us to be relaxed in this way?"

"You can't worry so much!" Nanami insisted. She sobered and said, "There's only so much we can do. Right now we've confirmed the…well, existence of all but three of our White Wings members from the location of their badges. But those three we can't pick up, regardless of where we go. On the other hand, we did find Riku- _chan_ and Kaoru- _chan_. And, of course, they seem to be in good hands under the care of Avalon.

"Really, I'd almost like to make sure of those other three before I do much of _anything_ else," she continued with a sigh. "But I guess now's as good a time as any to start gathering them up and see who we're missing, so that we can figure out how we can find them."

Rei nodded. "That does make sense. And in that case, these two do seem to be the most important to find."

"Remind me again why that is?"

Rei turned and fixed Nanami with her expressionless stare. "The origin of their badges is now the Latias Ruins—a supremely dangerous site of chaos energy. More importantly, sealed within it is a demonic creature of nearly unfathomable power. If that creature's slumber is disturbed, they will be in grave danger. No, perhaps I understate the fact—this _world_ could be in peril."

8-8-8

"And why are we going deeper?" Ami queried as they began to descend towards the prison and laboratory levels.

"I told you— _I_ am heading down to find more monsters to fight," Delryn explained. "You two have already found a good amount of treasure. You could leave now, if you like. I think I'd feel better, knowing you two were safe and away from here."

"Oh, no," Akari insisted. "We've come this far…it's only natural that we see it to the finish. Isn't that right, Ami- _chan_?"

Ami sighed. " _Hai_ , _hai_." In truth, however, there was part of her that was curious enough to want to see the continuation of her adventure. She'd never had the obsession with adventure and fantasy that her friends Nodoka and Yue had always had—she was more interested in pursuing her schooling, and most especially her dream of being a doctor like her mother. She supported those friends, however, and allowed herself to be dragged along by them into their Library Adventures, and later, of course, into their magical adventures with Kain. And so, intellectual as she was, she found herself in equal measures horrified and fascinated by this strange, chaos-warped prison of dire creatures….

"Truth be told, I'm looking to get stronger myself," Akari continued. "I welcome the opportunity to train myself alongside a friend like this."

"Really? Planning on entering the tournament yourself?" Delryn asked warmly. "You do seem pretty capable—you'd probably do pretty well."

"Ah…no, I can't," Akari sighed. "As much as I like to, I just can't…for several reasons. But I appreciate your confidence in me…." She trailed off and stiffened, then glanced wearily behind her.

"Yeah…it seems we've got company again." Delryn and Akari both readied themselves, moving to surround Ami as shadows appeared and materialized into more solid threats from both the front and the rear.

They were large and somewhat insectoid, with forearms boasting long, scythe-like blades. They waddled forward on short, stubby legs, and roared almost in unison—a bone-chilling, very unnatural sound.

Nevertheless, their presentation served as a kind of starting pistol, and Akari and Delryn both dashed in to engage their respective advancing foe.

Akari dodged the lightning-fast blade strikes of the mantis-like creature, responding with her fierce storm of punches and occasional kicks. The creature began to withdraw, halting its own attack and protecting itself for a few seconds of this; finally, in the midst of a pause in Akari's assault, it lashed out again, that razor-edged blade scything in towards Akari's unprotected throat….

Akari just leaned back to avoid the blow, her emanating _ki_ doing its part to stop the merest hint of actual damage. At the same time her arms wrapped around the harmless flesh of the upper forelimb and she pulled herself up and into the air. A kick shattered the arm which she held, and she thence threw herself at the ugly face of the monster and smashed her fist into it. The _ki-_ charged strike finished it off, and it began to fall to the ground, dissolving and disintegrating all the way down.

Delryn's own battle unfolded in a similar fashion. There wasn't a great deal of room, so he was unable to use his agility to any great degree and had to face the creature head-on. He blocked the strikes of the monster with his own blade, and the human-on-inhuman fencing match continued apace for several seconds until the swordsman managed to slip his blade inside the reach of the monster's right claw, severing the talon off at its base. Screaming, the monster redoubled its attacks on the young man with its remaining blade, but Delryn met all these attacks calmly until he found a chance to repeat his action against the other arm. As the monster howled and recoiled, weaponless, Delryn leapt up and severed its head.

"It almost seems this is getting easier," Akari commented as she turned back forward, and Delryn turned away from his own defeated foe. "Shall we move on?"

"A-A-Akari- _san_ …" Ami muttered, her pitch starting to grow frantic.

"Huh? What?" Akari looked at Ami in confusion, then glanced over at Delryn, who was staring at her with interest.

"Well," Delryn finally said. "That's a new look for you, Akari."

"What?" And then realization began to dawn, and she felt at her throat. The charm she wore, the magical amulet that had given her a unique appearance, was gone, apparently cut off in the close shave she'd had with her foe just moments before. "O-oops…t-this is…I mean…uh, well…c-cosplay?"

"I see," Delryn murmured carefully. "Actually, I do remember now that there's all this buzz going around about the terrorists who destroyed the Gateports. A strange bunch—mostly young girls, apparently from Japan back on Earth. I was wondering why Ami looked so familiar." He glanced over at her before continuing, "Yes…now this all makes sense…."

As Akari's panic began to mount, Ami took charge and attempted, "The charges against us…they're all completely phony. We had nothing to do with those attacks; in fact, we were attacked by the real criminals while our party was crossing over from Earth. We were scattered in the attack…and, with everything that's happening, we don't have the means or luxury of trying to clear our names at the moment. So, you see…."

"I got ya…I got ya," Delryn replied, waving her to silence. "Well, the whole deal sounded awfully suspicious to me, too, from the start. I never had a lot of interest in it. So, I'm sure I can be persuaded to go along with your little secret…for a price."

"Okay…what kind of price?" Ami asked warily.

"Hmm." Delryn appeared to be giving the matter a great deal of thought. "Well…I suppose I could let this all pass…in exchange for a kiss from each of the lovely ladies…."

The two staring females began to blush and stutter, but their discomfiture was broken by a laugh from the rafters in the ceiling up above them. The laughing figure leaned back from his seated perch, a bit too far, and began to fall from the height. He turned over and managed to land gracefully on his feet, then presented himself, almost sheepishly, to the group. He appeared young—just in double digits in age, with ice blue hair and pink eyes, dressed in a white collared shirt, open collar, and blue slacks. The girls' panic built further as they recognized him.

He almost leered at their companion, barely sparing them a glance. "Way to go, Delryn…you really are your father's son, aren't you?"

"And who the hell are you?" Delryn snapped back, his own agitation rising sharply from this address.

"The name I usually go by is 'Homura Nagi'. And as your girlfriends there can probably tell you, I am part of the Obsidian Star, if that means anything to you.

"I followed those two to see if I should send some of our forces in to eliminate them if the opportunity presented itself…but it seems that this place can do it for me…."

"Whatever." Delryn suddenly raised his sword and stepped in to attack the boy-monster, but his sword came to a jarring stop several inches from his nick. It didn't rebound, but literally halted, held fast by some form of magic.

Still smiling mockingly, Nagi kept one hand in a pocket and reached out to the side with the other. Darkness pooled and poured from his hand and streamed down to the ground, where it began to seep through the stone below them. "Now…I'll leave you to play with the pet." Then he vanished.

There was a rumbling and the whole building began to shake. Delryn swore audibly. "Let's get out of here…now!" he snapped, and began to herd the girls back towards the stairs.

Apparently in time, because the ground opened up and a monstrous hand shot out, and further into the ceiling. They raced through the collapsing hallways and up the shaking stairs until they managed to escape to the surface…just in time to see the monster's head and body begin to tear itself free and it began to climb, blinking into the light of day.

8-8-8

Nanami stared at the monster at it climbed out. Even from this distance, it was clear to see—relatively humanoid in shape, although rather hunched over, a wide, toothy maw, massive compound eyes, no other visible features on its face, great claws with only three total digits, a similar number on its horny feet, a great clubbed tail similar to certain ancient dinosaurs, and a massive shell that seemed a combination between a turtle's carapace and a cluster of diamonds. "Um…is that…?"

"Yes," Rei replied flatly. "The Tarax, a great demonic beast of low intelligence and great power that consumes entire countries. If we don't find a way to stop it, the Obsidian Star will be the least of our immediate worries."

F I N

 _Author's Note: Monstrous Fiends and Mysterious Swordsmen!_

 _This scenario is part careful creation alongside part shameless 'doing what I want' moments. Let's start with the former._

 _As I've mentioned, I replaced two of the more major members of Nagi's original party with versions/characters of two of my own closest friends—Jynx and Aiden. Their introductions and actions have largely coincided with the characters they replaced, however, which sometimes has created conflict that I hadn't really foreseen or dealt with. I worked it out with Jynx during the Festival (particularly the tournament) and came with excuses why he acted so much like his original, and it worked out. With Aiden, who replaces Rakan, Negi's magical world mentor, it was initially easier to make the switch—after all, Aiden, like Rakan, is quite a bit of a rogue. He isn't the hardcore gouger Rakan is, demanding money (exorbitant amounts of it) for every little thing he chooses to do, but nonetheless he is a rogue, a scoundrel, as the character creator, Ryan, likes to say. I will go more into that all when Aiden finally gets his introduction, likely in Act 12, but I will speed to the point: Ryan is a dedicated and very_ in depth _roleplayer, and while he perceives Aiden as a scoundrel, he would hope that, in time, he would find a woman who could wrangle him in and eventually settle down and start a family of his own, and he considered that Aiden would eventually be able to do that…something Rakan never was able to do (or even dream of attempting). And so…._

 _From this comes Delryn, and Delryn's actual place in this story, relationships, etc., have been well thought-out and discussed by our author and the character creator, and we will learn more about that after his character introduction a few chapters down the line. But Delryn is not a haphazard character here—he is a carefully-considered and crafted part of my unique MSK fanfic…in some ways, more than many of the female characters here._

 _And now, the not-quite-so-thought-out, shameless portion of this: well, saying it like that makes it seem like it was a mindless action, but while possibly soulless and shameless, I put thought into this as well to make it work. The appearance of the big monster, the Tarax, has a point…obviously, the creature itself is a shameless presentation/rip-off of the infamous D &D (and Pathfinder) super-monster, which shall remain nameless, and which I hate so very much. I mean, as a DM/GM, I never have to bring it in, and as the indisputably strongest monster in the Monster Manual/Bestiary, it's designed to almost never actually appear—if you can kill it, your characters can officially kill anything—but I guess I just hate the whole end-all 'it can never actually be killed, only by doing these steps can you even banish it for a certain length of time'. Roll-eyes and all that. But a gigantic monster is a convenient tool to toss out here…because of Rei Ayanami. In finding something to be Rei's artifact, I chose something appropriate but of limited general use, and completely shameless, and the best way to present it properly is to have a gigantic monster present. Thus, I made this ruin/dungeon a seal for magical creatures, made the creature at the bottom this all-powerful terror, and let Nagi show up and use his power to evoke it rather than throwing more RoAW characters at Akari & co. The rest of this will become clear next chapter, of course._

 _Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Next stop: Kiami and Kazumi._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Three: The Running Guns

The man placed the paper on the table and shoved it towards the two 'guests' on the other side, then looked over his strange spectacles at them. "So…two of the faces here seem very familiar to me right now. Do you recognize any of these faces, my ladies?"

Kazumi squirmed, but in the seat next to her, Kiami replied levelly, almost flippantly: "Not at all, sir. Should they? That seems to be a wanted list for terrorists that have rocked this world by destroying all the Gateports. I hope you don't possibly think that two very young, very vivacious, very _fragile_ little flowers like ourselves could be involved in any way with such activities."

"I see. I can understand your sentiment. However, we do know that sheep's clothing can hide a wolf. Of far greater interest, however, is how much resemblance the two of you bear to some of these fugitives. Don't you think, Lieutenant?"

The seated colonel turned to his standing adjutant, who glanced dutifully at the fugitive page before responding, "Why, sir, I do believe that they bear incredible resemblance to Tsukimori Kiami and Yoshida Kazumi. Their resemblance to two such very young, very vivacious, very fragile little flowers is nothing short of unbelievable."

As the colonel turned his level stare back at them, Kiami replied easily, "Well, I do believe you are correct. They look _amazingly_ like us. But I assure you, we have nothing to do with any Gate-destroyers. I'm Kariko and this is Kitomi, and we are actually nothing more than lost little tourists and damsels in distress, who could certainly use the assistance of the military in finding our way…."

"Really…." The colonel gave a sigh and pushed at the bridge of his glasses with one long finger, but behind that fatigued expression he truly seemed to be enjoying himself. "Well, while we would be happy to assist any lost damsels in distress, the truth of the matter is that we can't do very much right now. With this sudden terrorist activity separating Arcanus Myrror from Earth, combined with the upcoming Memorial Festival, we have to devote a great deal of time to ensuring the safety of our people and the security of said festival. Lost or not, we'll certainly have to hold you for some time while these preparations…."

"Oh, please stop!" Kazumi finally burst out, almost in tears. "I can't take this any more. Yes, sir, obviously, we are Tsukimori Kiami and Yoshida Kazumi. But we were not involved in this terrorist attack! We're just victims! We—the two of us, and all of our friends and classmates who are on that report—we were coming here with our teacher, Kain- _sensei_ , on a trip to locate his missing father, when we were attacked at the Gateport…probably by the real terrorists! We never thought it would come to this…we just want to find our friends and go home…."

She sniffled, trying to be strong and hold back her tears. The other three present looked at her with mixed expressions of admiration. "Oh, too bad," Kiami commented. "I was enjoying that game. I wanted to see how long I could get away with playing the fool before the good officer here finally accused me outright." When Kazumi shot her a slight glare in response, she chuckled and, much to Kazumi's surprise, grabbed her head and pulled her in so that she could embrace her. "There, there," she murmured. "It's okay. We'll make it through this…."

The colonel smiled slightly as he continued to observe them. "Thank you for your refreshing honesty, Yoshida- _san_. I must admit, I do find you rather _young_ , _vivacious_ , and _fragile_ to be terrorists. However, this is the report we received from the Halteese Republic concerning those responsible for the matter. I don't suppose you know why your names have been linked to this heinous crime…or why security videos of one of your party destroying them have come to us…?"

At this comment, the lieutenant brought out a laptop and opened it. A keypress brought up the infamous video of Kain destroying the Gate.

Kazumi sputtered as she tore herself from Kiami's grasp and sat bolt upright. "T-that's not right! That's not what happened! Kain- _sensei_ could never do something like that…!"

"Kain- _sensei_ again." The colonel once again raised his eyebrow. "That's the second time you've mentioned that name…but it's not in the list of involved persons. The face here that matches the figure in the video is 'Randis Helam'. Would you care to explain that?"

Kiami considered the man as Kazumi sought for words. Even seated, she could tell he was tall, still in his prime in probably his mid-thirties. He was dressed in the dark blue-green uniform of an officer of, apparently, the Grandall Empire…meaning their transportation had taken them some several thousand kilometers if she half-remembered their few brief lessons on Arcanus Myrror geography correctly. He had blood-red eyes that were kept behind glasses with odd lenses, ones that didn't warp the light at all—obviously non-prescription lenses—but had some other quality she couldn't identify. Even this oddity didn't detract from the ' _bishonen_ ' quality that his handsome features evoked, that were further brought out by his long brown hair. Kiami briefly wondered how lax the usual hygiene and appearance rules were for Grandall's military.

Finally Kiami answered the colonel's question. "The man in question is our English teacher, Kain Lockeheart- _sensei_ ," she explained. "He's traveling under an assumed name, under orders of those in authority over him—the principal of Mahora University, as well as other members of the Headmaster's Council of Caelar University."

"Hmm…I suspected as much." The man nodded. "We've bandied words long enough, so I'll cut through the explanations quickly. He must be the rumored long-lost son of the hero, Kalan Lockeheart, and is traveling under this assumed name to avoid unwanted attention. Ironically, this situation has made him famous, or, more correctly, infamous, the world over. An assumed name would normally be suspicious, but if he is who you claim, it would be more than reasonable." He fixed them both with a cold stare, far more serious than he had shown previously. "Can you swear to me that your story is true, and that you are not involved in these terrorist attacks?"

"Will that matter?" Kiami returned slightly more sharply than she had before spoken. "We are fugitives, proclaimed by the Halteese Republic to be dangerous terrorists. As a high-ranking member of Grandall's military, would you not be required in good faith to turn us over to them at the first opportunity, no matter what we say?"

"Technically, perhaps," replied the adjutant. Kiami focused on the man as he spoke. Also dressed in the uniform of Grandall, he had evenly-parted black hair, about medium length, with a small black ponytail in back and blue-grey eyes. He also sported a small goatee and mustache, perhaps in attempt to hide his youth—he was likely in his late teens. "But there are…all sorts of mitigating circumstances here. We're reluctant to rush to judgment—among other things, all the Gates in the world were hit simultaneously, including ours, and with such precision that none of the culprits have been identified. Yet one Gate for Halteese alone has witnesses proclaiming the perpetrators—and they consist mostly of Japanese middle school students who technically should have no knowledge of Arcanus Myrror to begin with, but who have been properly registered and cleared for this trip. This whole situation is, at best, unusual, and at worst—highly suspicious."

"It is hard to imagine why the Republic would frame a collection of innocent children," the colonel continued. "But it would be beyond irresponsible to ignore the possibility that other agendas might be involved and accept such an unlikely source for so serious an outcome. Right now, we have to assume all possibilities. That means that we'll have to hold you for the moment while we wait and gather all the information we can. But if you swear that you are innocent, I will do all I can to protect you until I can confirm your story one way or the other, at least for as long as I can—if all else fails, I can buy time by telling anyone who asks that we are planning to hand you over to Halteese as a present during the Memorial Festival.

"Until that time, you are our guests. Lieutenant Overcast will show you to your rooms—guest quarters, not cells—and, if you wish, he can escort you on explorations of the ship. With him or another appointed officer accompanying you, you are free to go anywhere except the bridge, engineering, and other areas that are top secret to our military, and that privilege will remain as long as you behave." He rose and started for the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to return to the bridge. I bid you good day."

The lieutenant watched him go and then motioned for the two ladies to rise. "Well, then—if you'll come with me, I'll show you to your rooms."

8-8-8

 _('Yoshida Kazumi here. I was just a normal Japanese middle school girl…until I decided to change that in order to get closer to the boy I like: my teacher, the magician, Kain Lockeheart-_ sensei _. With all of our friends, we came here to the magical world, Arcanus Myrror, to search for clues about his father…but then, at the Gate between worlds, we were attacked by his father's enemies, the Obsidian Star, and in the aftermath we were scattered through a magical spell to the corners of this world…_

 _('I ended up by myself in a forest filled with magical beasts…luckily, Kiami-_ chan _was nearby and we were able to meet up. As we were trying to escape the forest, we were found by these two soldiers: Colonel Jade Curtis and Lieutenant Damian Overcast of the Grandall Military. They helped escort us out of the forest, but then the colonel had us arrested and taken aboard his landship, the Tartarus. It seems, somehow, that our friends and everyone have been framed for the destruction of the Gateports…not just the one we came through, but all the Gateports in the world! So, for now they're holding us captive…._

 _('But it isn't all bad. The colonel…Jade…he's nice enough, and he's not treating us badly. The lieutenant, who insists on being called Overcast, is also kind, and he has been our primary escort around the Tartarus. He's…an all right babysitter, I suppose. We're given freedom enough, although he has to be our guide or find us another if he has other duties, but he's very good at not getting in our way or making us feel uncomfortable._

 _('So we're here, now, stuck…we can't go anywhere, but at least, for now, we're protected from our enemies…._

 _('I'm just…worried about Kain-_ sensei _…not to mention everyone else…._

 _('And my family back home. Sometimes, I wonder if I'll ever see them again…._

 _('But then I remember I have to be strong. I chose this…even after Kain-_ sensei _warned us that it would be dangerous. Now that it's happened, I have to face this….')_

"Well, it certainly could be worse," Kiami remarked one afternoon as they ate together in a corner of the landship's mess hall. "We could have been picked up by someone who honestly wanted to capture us…like Halteese itself. We also could have been found by more competent captors."

"W-what?" Kazumi looked around nervously, hoping that no one was listening to this particular commentary.

"Well, the colonel's dangerous, to be sure. He's got some martial ability, at least, and probably a lot of magical potential. His aide, Overcast, is probably pretty good himself. That's why Jade keeps him close to us—and close by his side—when he has a captain on board as well. The rest of the crew just can't measure up to a _real_ fighter. And if it came to just escape, I can slip past both of them, even carrying you, I'm sure—but I'd rather not make a real enemy out of this seemingly friendly country unless absolutely necessary."

"Haha…" Kazumi laughed hoarsely. "Y-yeah…I-I think we shouldn't cause any more trouble than we have to…."

"I wonder how much they know," Kiami mused, whirling a chopstick around her finger. "I mean, that seemed to be the Obsidian Star that attacked us back at the Gateport. I wonder what mentioning them would mean to Jade…if it would help or hurt our cause."

"Hurt?" Kazumi replied, confused again.

"Well, Jade strikes me as generally level-headed and reasonable, but sometimes people can try and ignore data that they don't like. The scenario would be: 'It was the Obsidian Star, honest!' and they would reply: 'Oh nonsense, they were wiped out years ago!' and so on. I doubt Jade would react that way, but I don't have a complete grasp of him yet…."

She trailed off as Overcast began to approach them, walking quickly, at his businesslike gait rather than his usual casual saunter. They had seen enough of him over the past week that they had gotten used to both of them, and could judge his intents by that approach. "Is something the matter, Mr. Overcast?"

"The colonel has something he'd like you to see. Something that may interest you." He glanced at their plates. "As soon as you're finished eating."

"I think we're mostly done," Kiami replied, taking her dish and rising, and Kazumi, agreeing quickly, quickly followed suit. After disposing of the waste and leaving their dishes, they followed him out of the mess hall.

"No hints? No teasing clues?" Kiami needled good-naturedly as they followed the man.

"I certainly wouldn't want to spoil the surprise," he answered with a smile.

Finally they arrived at the small office where Jade usually conducted his interviews with them. He had a monitor now set up at the side of the table and turned so that it was visible to occupants seated at both sides. He rose when they entered and gestured for them to sit.

"Thank you for coming. This morning, some members of my crew brought an interesting video to my attention. These particular soldiers are great fans of the prize-fighting circuits of warrior-mage combat, especially the brutal arenas of the western lands. Here's the recent feed they picked up…."

He operated a remote and showed the video from Kain's debut match—the amazing announcement of 'Kalan Lockeheart'.

"It almost seems to be my month for singular coincidences and look-alikes," Jade quipped. "An astonishing fighter with the name and appearance of Arcanus Myrror's greatest hero. And as for his companion…."

As usual, Kazumi was not really in the mood for games. "Kain- _sensei_ …Kenjirô- _kun_ … _yokata_ …they're all right…."

Jade raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances with Overcast. "Is your _sensei_ usually in the habit of disguising his age so well?" he demanded of Kiami.

"Hmm, I have seen it once or twice." Kiami gave her slight half-smile. "Supposedly it's a perfect age-altering illusion that's impossible to detect, and unavailable anywhere else. It's been used for similar situations when he needed to obscure his identity."

"Sounds frightening. I must admit I haven't heard of any kind of illusionary disguise that would so easily pass the kinds of magic detections that exist for these kinds of public displays. If I hadn't already met the two of you and heard your story, I might have almost believed that the man's appearance was nothing but…an extreme coincidence. However…."

"Since you _have_ heard from us, you find it easy to interpret the scene," Kiami replied, still smiling.

"Of course. However, I do find myself curious as to the purpose behind this little scenario. Disguised or not, why would a high-priced criminal engage in such a showy, public tournament?"

"P-perhaps to…catch our attention?" Kazumi offered. "We were…separated and thrown all over the world, I guess…if Kain- _sensei_ gets any more public broadcasts like this, he can send messages to all of us without giving away his or anyone else's identity…."

"That's a thought," Overcast agreed. "But I think there might be more to it than that. Although the battle footage before this shows that he and his friend are quite skilled, joining in this kind of league is highly dangerous. I couldn't say for certain that I could advance all the way to the Memorial Tournament (the colonel, of course, is another story, but…), and I'm fairly confident in my own abilities."

"Do you two have any other clues concerning this matter that you might be willing to share now?" Jade asked mildly—kindly, but with an earnest, searching seriousness behind his glasses.

Kiami and Kazumi exchanged a glance. "Well, we haven't mentioned yet the identity of our attackers," Kiami admitted. "What would you think if I told you the ones who likely destroyed the Gateport belonged to the Obsidian Star?"

Jade raised an eyebrow and Overcast whistled at this statement. "Actually, less surprised than you might think. After all…."

Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion outside and the ship rocked. Jade reached over a pushed a button under his desk. "Bridge, what was that? What's going on?"

"M-monsters! A huge swarm of winged beasts are attacking us head on, and—aargh!" The man cut off with a pained scream.

"Bridge, come in! Bridge!"

"Trouble?" Kiami queried with her usual lack of emotion.

"From the sounds of it, big trouble. Overcast, stay here with these two. For your own safety, stay put. I'll go investigate this matter." He rose and started for the door.

"Don't be ridiculous," Kiami replied, rising. "I've been trained to fight since I was old enough to walk. I'm not going to sit here like a damsel in distress while you get yourself killed on my account. I can bear a lot of things, but not being coddled."

Overcast and Jade shared an obscure look, and the colonel replied, "If you're willing to take responsibility for your own safety, then you may come. As long as you understand what that entails."

Even Kazumi hurried after them, steeling her own will and nerves. _('I've got to be strong, too…strong like Kain-_ sensei _and Kenjirô-_ kun. _This is what I endured all that training and harsh work for…to stand beside Kain_ -sensei _, and not just to depend on him….')_

The four hurried out the door, through the corridor and finally onto the landship's exterior. A host of swarming monsters—largely winged creatures of various, unnatural shapes, along with a few that were four-legged and wingless and rather canine, but still demonic in appearance—ran about, attacking the soldiers and causing general mayhem and damage.

The four new arrivals barely had time to take in the scene before a bolt of lightning came down on top of them. Jade, Overcast, and Kiami, carrying Kazumi, leapt out of the way, avoiding the attack, and all four swiftly turned their eyes to the figure perched above the doorway.

Kazumi vaguely recognized her—her dress was unique, and had been one of many strange outfits seen at the Gateport battle. She wore an almost military-like hat of dark blue-purple with a gold crest. Her dress was similar in looks—the sleeves and upper portion of the chest were black, with the very long sleeves further standing out with their wide ends and the elaborate gold etching on them. Below her modest chest the dress was a similar blue-violet, and the dress ended in a very short skirt. Most of her legs, however, were covered in long black socks. She had short hair, which along the eyes were of a very bright shade of violet. She carried a scythe, and she smiled slightly as she considered the four. "So…Colonel Curtis of Grandall, as well as two of Kain Lockeheart's party…the 'White Wings', did you call yourselves? We did not expect to see so many remarkable personages on this little excursion…."

Jade pushed at his glasses. "…You attacked this landship without even knowing your opponents? I would call your tactics flawed, but I'm more curious as to why you attacked us in the first place. And yet there's something even more important to consider…." He whirled around and raised his hand, keeping his other in its usual place in his pocket. "O maddening gale of the spirits of the earth…Stalagmite!" As the magic circle appeared and grew beneath him, he slammed his hand onto the ground. Jagged pillars of rock began to spring at sharp, alternating angles in a stream out towards…

…Nothing, at first glance, but a figure came into shadowy existence, springing backwards as she took shape and finally extending a hand and a purple orb towards the oncoming attack. The seemingly-solid stone stopped short and flowed into the orb, vanishing, and leaving no trace that they were ever there. Kiami and Kazumi both were rather impressed and awed by this display, as their magical training had not yet including enough elemental magic studies to understand that 'earth-type' magic, calling on the element of earth, could gather and solidify that mana into a semi-solid (and still very dangerous) shape without actually affecting the land around them. And, of course, as astute readers would note, they were currently on a ship, which did not provide a lot of rock to use regardless of the situation.

In any case, the victim was more familiar to the two ladies—it was Kairen, she of purple hair and eyes nearly of the same hue as the other girl's, dressed in a more Chinese-styled dress, sleeveless, just as short, and with gold trim, and a black hat on her head. She wore detached sleeves over her arms, but no claws at the present.

"Ah…you again," Kiami remarked with interest as Jade raised an eyebrow at this unusual defense. She glanced back at the other girl. "And this one looks like she's related to you? Well, no matter…we have more playmates…."

Indeed, two more women appeared on either side of the group, surrounding them. On one side was a raven-haired beauty in an interesting battle dress—her plated bustier was accompanied by a styled lion's head epaulette and two fauld plates with golden fleur-de-lis engraved on them, securing a wide, long white dress with black trim and armored, heeled boots. Her elaborate grey hat was adorned with stylized wings, a spear with a crossbar in the shape of wings, and a black shield with a golden emblazoned face. The woman on the other side carried a bladed staff. Like Kairen and her look-alike, she wore a short dress, but hers was far more exotic, largely red and cut low to accentuate her generous assets. Like Kairen, she had detached sleeves, white-pink with red trim…and incredibly large and flowing, exquisitely-designed. She covered her own legs with thigh-length red stockings and short black boots. What stood out most, however, was above her neck—her medium length black hair held odd, large jewel-like adornments…and most prominently, a third eye, red, in the middle of her forehead.

"Yes, you were all there," Kiami continued. "And yet we are supposed to believe you didn't come here to finish us off?"

"This encounter is coincidence," Kairen remarked. "However, it may prove beneficial…to us." She actually drew a card from behind her, and, invoking it, came away with iron bindings and claws on _both_ of her hands.

"It looks like these are the ones leading the raid," Overcast remarked. "If we can defeat them, we can probably still save the ship. As much as I hate to ask this—almost as much as I hate fighting women myself—can we ask you ladies to each take one foe?"

"Y-yes," Kazumi stated with barely a tremor and Kiami merely smiled in reply.

They sprang into action, each moving in to fight a different foe. Kiami threw herself at her familiar opponent, Kairen, and, as they had in Kyoto so many months before, they began a _ninjutsu-_ themed combat dance.

Jade materialized a spear and attacked the woman in red. As she moved back, blocking the strike, Jade encouraged her retreat with a sudden burst of energy from his offhand.

Overcast leapt at the raven-haired woman, moving at super-enhanced speed that went even beyond what was usual for mana-enhanced and _ki-_ enhanced mages. She just had enough time to widen her eyes in surprise before a punch to her stomach threw her away.

And Kazumi rounded on the scythe-wielding woman, bringing a hand up to the jewel around her neck. "Come forth…Raiden!" Lightning began to rain down around her, finally culminating in a massive bolt that struck just in front of Kazumi. The bolt left behind a heavily-cloaked figure, completely concealed by its cloud of garments. A Chinese peasant hat completed the covering, leaving nothing visible but a mound of clothing.

The summoned being sprang at the scythe-wielder, spreading both arms out and wrapping lighting around them. It lashed out, causing a massive blast of electricity, forcing the woman to leap away. It pursued her, forming its power into a sword-like mass of lightning, and the woman parried the attacks with her own weapon. An incantation from her sent a flurry of light energy out, driving her attacker away, and they settled into ready positions a short distance from each other. "Well…your summon is dangerous. I thought that you were one of the more quiet, harmless children, but you have magical talent to command a being like this. I am Ryuryu. May I request your name?"

This statement brought Kazumi up short, but she finally offered, "Yoshida…Kazumi."

Ryuryu smiled slightly. "A pleasure. Alas, it cannot last." She brandished her weapon. "Shall we continue?"

Overcast moved with incredible speed, flanking the raven-haired woman continuously and beating her back with ease. She was using her own mana to enhance her abilities, and yet somehow Overcast was moving far beyond her capabilities. His strikes were also supremely powerful…this was, even in a world of magic, incredibly unusual, to say the least.

She could push her own enhancements more—but only at great danger to herself, for brief periods. And so she fell back defensively, repelling his attacks as best she could, waiting….

And as he maneuvered around behind her again, she suddenly wasn't there, and had instead positioned herself behind him in that brief instant. Her spear came forward in a thrust, and it caught against a shimmering field as Overcast began to turn. The two froze, powers straining, when the woman's spear suddenly flashed with green energy. The incandescent shield shattered, and her thrust continued forward with streaks of wind-energy racing out as well. Overcast fell backwards, but a pair of wind-blades slashed across his side, giving slight wounds.

The soldier fell back for the first time in the battle, and the woman hesitated as well, not wishing to press forward into a trap. Then Overcast relaxed slightly and pulled at his right wrist, revealing a bracelet…that, even as he revealed it, cracked, broke, and fell to dust.

The woman smiled. "I see…a Kusaribe talisman. Personal items fused with order magic, allowing them to temporarily increase speed, defense and physical strength to a large degree. I did not believe anyone remaining had knowledge of how to construct them. Is that all your edge?"

Overcast smiled back and pulled at his other sleeve…revealing three more bracelets on that wrist.

The woman sighed. "This isn't going to be pleasant. I'd rather not drag out this painful battle that long…."

"Neither would I, honestly," Overcast admitted. "Especially fighting a beautiful woman…if I wasn't such a model soldier, I couldn't do it at all. Might I at least have your name?"

She cocked her head at him. "Elaine. That name is all that remains to me."

"I see. I, on the other hand, am Lieutenant Damian Overcast. Be careful…here I come again." He materialized a sword and charged in again at his breakneck speed.

Jade used his Stalagmite spell again, and the three-eyed woman countered it with an 'Earth Needle' spell of her own. "So I get Jade the Necromancer?" she murmured. "That almost seems unfair…."

"Well, so you know my reputation well," Jade replied. "Of course, I also know you—Vira-Lorr, the roaming onelthes. Your people have often been hunted both for their unique, sometimes unsettling appearance and for the precognitive abilities of your third eye, and therefore almost always hide it. And yet you have traveled about for decades, proudly flaunting your difference, and have survived all those who sought your life. You have never tied yourself to any kingdom or power…but I wonder, why would you now swear yourself to this strange group? Judging by what I've seen recently, do I misjudge if I believe that you are acting on behalf of the Obsidian Star?"

Vira-Lorr smiled slightly. "Yes…you know my history well. But my present and future…they belong, for now, with the Obsidian Star. I doubt you could understand, not the short time we have in this mêlée. I'm sorry, but we don't have any luxury to do otherwise…we were in need of a weapon, and this landship, wandering so far from its usual patrol into the borders of Grandall, was just a convenient target. Regret your luck or orders that brought that you here."

"So…my mercy doomed my men," Jade murmured. "I had the ship take a longer route so I could find out more about these girls, their companions, and potentially their attackers, and so because of that, this happened…well, nothing for it but to fight on. Rest in a merciless silver embrace…Absolute!"

A spiked cluster of giant ice crystals began to form around Vira-Lorr. She slammed her staff into the ground. "Black void of drawn breath…Atomic Hole!" In response to this chant, a black orb of negative space appeared, drawing in and dispersing all the ice crystals.

The battle raged between the eight combatants, spells and attacks flying between Jade and Vira-Lorr and Raiden and Ryuryu, Kairen and Kiami battling with their unique powers and attack styles, and Overcast using up his talismans in battle with Elaine. Meanwhile, around them, the monsters continued to battle the remaining Grandall soldiers…and the defenders were apparently losing.

As Jade took a brief moment to scan and ascertain the increasingly dire straits of their battle, blackness suddenly welled up underneath Kazumi. He shouted a warning to her, but before the girl could ascertain her danger, the shadow exploded upward, wrapping around Kazumi's neck and hoisting her into the air. Dynamis rose from the shadow next, looming in the midst of the combat and causing all the skirmishes to cease in shock.

"That's enough," Dynamis rumbled. "It seems that this battle is turning our way." The last of the soldiers around them fell around this same time, punctuating Dynamis' declaration dramatically—although there were rather few of the monsters remaining—and he waved Kazumi slightly with his shadow tentacle. "Now, it'd be best to surrender, if you don't want this one to become a casualty."

Jade stared hard at the man. He caused his spear to vanish and pushed at his glasses. "You must be careful when playing with captives. If you use them wrong, they can backfire…."

Dynamis laughed. "True. We have orders to spare these little mice if possible, of course, and we'd rather take all of you interesting personages alive…and it's far easier for us to do so if you surrender to us. But we are prepared to kill you if necessary…and if this one must be a sacrifice to prove that point, do not doubt that we won't hesitate to do so."

As Jade lowered his head in consideration and Kiami and Overcast waiting a tipping point in this dangerous standoff, a faint voice suddenly caught their attention: "O violent strains that render enemies to ashes… _Va Neu Va Rei Va Neu Va Zue Rei…_."

Light suddenly clouded out the sky above the ship. As the combatants stared up in shock, Tear's voice snapped out, "Judgment!", and bolts of light struck light lightning around them, decimating the remaining monster forces and scattering the four Obsidian ladies. Dynamis raised a hand to cause waves of the shadows around him to flow over his head, forming a shield to block the strikes.

Then Rin and Mei leapt into view, preparing their spells. "Double Flash!" they yelled in unison, and their combined spell shot forth a stream of light that cut through several of Dynamis' shadows, even causing him to drop Kazumi.

"Archer!" Rin snapped out in command, and a new figure suddenly appeared underneath the younger girl and caught her. He then vanished and reappeared next to Rin's side. He was a tall, muscular man, with a long red coat over black armor covering both his body and legs and had spiked white hair.

Raiden, who had completely frozen with his mistress' capture, suddenly sprang to life, covering himself in an electric nimbus and throwing himself onto the stunned Dynamis. Jade, thinking quickly, began to chant. "I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates of hell. Come forth, divine lightning! This ends now! Indignation!"

A huge bolt of lightning came striking down in response to this chant, right on top of Dynamis. The bolt combined with Raiden's power to cause an enormous accompanying explosion. In the aftermath of the destructive force of the attack, the two sides separated to opposite positions on the craft across from each other. Dynamis was showing obvious signs of damage from the attack…Raiden was gone, perhaps with his terrestrial form consumed in the flash of lightning.

"Well…thank you for your unexpected assistance," Jade remarked to the new arrivals. "I suppose we'll talk about that later. As for you…." This, to the enemy: "It seems that we have the numbers advantage now…so, what's your next move?"

"Well, as you say, the odds wouldn't appear to be in our favor," Vira-Lorr remarked. "What to do?"

Overcast stepped forward and began to unleash the energy from his talismans. "If you'd like to continue, we'll do what we have to drive you off…is this little adventure worth the further risk?"

"This is taking far too long," a new voiced snapped out, and the statement was punctuated by a hail of bullets. Overcast snapped his hand out to create a shield, but he balked in surprise as the bullets were, indeed, deflected successfully by the attack, but his energy voided itself rapidly in response to the fire. Most of his remaining talismans broke and fell to pieces as their magic was sucked out of them. He retreated as the new aggressor landed in front of the Obsidian Star's force, a woman whose appearance caused Tear to gasp in shock.

She was a middle-sized woman, wearing her medium-length hair in a high, thick and bushy ponytail. She wore a black one-piece suit-dress with a collar but no shoulders, a very short skirt but thigh-high black boots leaving very little in the way of so-called 'absolute territory'. A red sash was wrapped around her arms and behind her back, but this curious accoutrement seemed to little impede her. She carried two equally curious weapons, pistols each with a spiked guard. "L-Legretta!?" Tear stammered. "Miss Legretta, is that you!?"

"So, you're here, Tear?" Legretta replied with little apparent emotion. "I'm not sure if that's good or bad fortune for us. I'm surprised to see you, and your interference is merely complicating this matter unnecessarily."

"But why are _you_ here!?" Tear demanded. "You disappeared a year and a half ago…and here you appear, aiding the Obsidian Star!? What is the meaning of this!?"

Legretta lowered her head and closed her eyes. A soft smile spread across her neutral face. "The meaning of this…once I was certain you were in proper hands, I went searching for meaning…and perhaps for my past. And I found more than I ever could have thought possible. If you knew…."

"And she will know, Legretta. Allow me."

As if there wasn't enough confusion of new arrivals, a fifteenth figure joined the stand-off. He came striding in from off the direction of the bridge. He was a tall-man, youthful-looking, brown-haired with a hairstyle somewhat similar to Legretta's, and he wore a thin goatee as well. He wore a grey suit with an elaborate, black-embroidered white tabard, and carried a thick and heavy sword at his side. He looked over the soldiers and youths, his eyes particularly lingering over Tear and Rin. "So…we meet at last, Jade the Necromancer. But what is surprising…Tear…and is that little Rin Tôsaka? It's been far too long…ten years, hasn't it?"

"V-Van…." Tear stared, trembling in shock. "Y-you…it can't be you…my brother…y-you're…dead…."

"What the hell is the meaning of this!?" Rin snapped out, taking charge with her partner so shaken. "'Dead' is right! Van Grants departed from Mahora ten years ago as part of a team on a secret mission of investigation…and all seven of them disappeared. If you weren't killed, what the hell have you been doing all this time while your sister has been left all alone, without any family left!?"

Van Grants laughed at this explosion. "My, my, little Rin…you always were a feisty one, even as a kindergartener. So unlike your father. If you're wondering about him, do not concern yourself…I was the only one of our party to survive. After all, we found what we were looking for…but the rest of them weren't prepared for it. I regretted leaving Tear alone, but for many reasons I could not return. I knew that Grandfather and his allies would raise you well. And I'm quite happy you've come to me, now, after all this time. It's time for you to take your rightful place.

"All of you have proven capable. So, before this business has to get ugly again, let me make you this offer: cast aside your silly current loyalties, and come with us. You will be promised safety, and more. On the other hand, if you stand in our way you will almost certainly have to die, and there's no reason to throw away your lives."

Jade stepped forward, pointedly standing between the man and the two young ladies he recognized. "'Come with us', you say…and whom do you speak for? I have only my own suppositions, but you seem to indeed be remnants of the Obsidian Star, the terrorists who tried to set the world aflame and incite the great nations of Arcanus Myrror to war against each other…who were defeated twenty years ago by Kalan Lockeheart. If this is the case, what are your objectives now? Why should we work alongside you? And, former Agent Van Grants, trusted subordinate of Earth's Archmage Council, why did you alone survive this encounter, and what has caused you to serve those who destroyed your homeland?"

"'Those who destroyed my homeland'? The Obsidian Star used my homeland, to be sure, but it was the Queen of Calamity who destroyed it…her, and all the rest of the greedy, selfish, foolish nations of this world. They used her to pull the trigger, because they didn't have the courage, and then they had the gall to imprison and attempt to execute her for the act of saving their world. This madness and sickness existed long before the Obsidian Star came to this world.

"But if you will try to stand in defense of this diseased world, this world that is past saving, then we will cut you down here and now."

 _('Goodness, what a long-winded, confused mess this has turned out to be,')_ Jade thought as Van began to slowly, deliberately draw his sword. _('Van Grants of ten years ago was but a young man, but blessed with an incredible genius…even I had heard tell of his exploits, and he seemed to live up to his reputation. Now, after being in the care of the Obsidian Star, who knows what level he is at? These strange girls and that black-cloaked fellow, even if he is gravely wounded from my attack, are all dangerous as well. After the fighting we've already endured, this is hardly an ideal situation. The proper tactics here….')_

"Lieutenant," he stated simply.

"Yes, sir," Overcast replied almost cheerfully. He waved a hand around and planted it at his feet, causing a wave of energy and a magic circle to engulf them.

"Your offer seems most generous, but I'm afraid we'll have to decline at this time," Jade declared happily as he and those around him began to fade from existence. "I have more important business to take care of…like informing certain of my superiors of this new potential military threat to our country. I'm sure we'll meet again, however, so take care until then!"

"Exeunt!" Overcast declared, completing his spell, and the group vanished.

8-8-8

They reappeared in the courtyard of some kind of ruin. There were skeletons of buildings and remnants of walls two to four feet high around them, but too little remained for any precise consideration of their origin or purpose. As most of them attempted to recover from the mental strain of their teleportation, Jade strode forward so that he could turn and consider them all.

"Well, now that we are in slightly less dangerous surroundings, we need to share as much information as we can as quickly as possible. First of all, for our newcomers, I am Colonel Jade Curtis of the Grandall Empire. I would assume that your arrival was related to either our special guests, our attackers, or possibly both…."

"Er…y-yes…we've been tracking…." Tear faltered, trying to estimate how much she could safely tell this strange soldier.

"I assume Tsukimori- _san_ and Yoshida- _san_ explained their situation to you?" Rin interrupted briskly. "Otherwise, considering that you're carrying wanted terrorists, I'd imagine they would be locked up in cells rather than accompanying you into a dangerous battle. Yes, we've been tracking them."

Jade nodded slightly, and Tear finally continued, "Y-yes…I'm Tear Grants, and these are Tôsaka Rin and Sakura Mei, and we're all students of Mahora Academy and members of the Magic Council there. I was serving as a guide to the magical world for Kain Lockeheart's party alongside my mentor, Meia Gisborn. When they—the Obsidian Star—attacked us at the Gateport and we were overwhelmed, I used the Gate's magic to scatter them across the magical world. The attackers spared my life and sent me away before they destroyed the gate."

"Mei- _chan_ and I, and several more of our comrades, came through the Sendai-Grand Chokma Gate just prior to its destruction," Rin continued. "You probably can find a record of it if you make your proper military requests. Our objective is to rescue Kain- _sensei_ and his students, and, after meeting up with Tear and Meia- _sensei_ , we went out in search of the scattered parties. We split up to cover more ground and followed what trails we could find…and so we arrived upon your battle in the nick of time. More importantly, how far are we from that ship, and how soon can they catch up to us?"

"It depends on how well they follow a teleportation trail," Overcast replied. "I used a preset safety-relocation, so the destination was predetermined and is easier to track if you have the skills. But we're about fifty kilometers away…it would be hard for them to arrive too quickly."

Rin nodded and turned to the man in red. "Archer…scout the area, on the physical and magical plane. Let us know if there's any danger."

"Of course, Rin." The man faded from existence with no apparent effort or activity.

Jade's slight smile quirked out. "Indeed…a Heroic Spirit. I'd heard of the Tôsaka family's skill in that lost art. For a Servant Spirit to be under the command of one so young…that's impressive." Rin seemed to ignore the compliment, and Jade continued, "Well, your arrival was timely…I've acquired a bit too much information for my liking today, and at far higher a cost than I appreciate. Now, I think we should really get moving. I don't know if Van Grants and his associates view us a particular threat or important objective at this point, but we should assume that they will be after us. We'll need to get to safety as soon as possible. The nearest town to here is St. Binah, which is about seventy kilometers to the southeast. If we get started immediately, we should be able to get there by tomorrow evening. Well…I should say, that's where the Lieutenant and I are going, but at this moment, we have no right to force any of you to accompany us…."

Kiami smiled slightly. "Well, under these circumstances, I believe there's safety in numbers. What about you, Kazumi? What do you think?"

"E-eh? W-we shouldn't split up, should we? T-they're after…all of us…."

"Right now, they very well might be," Tear agreed, having finally recovered from her earlier shocks. "We're here as authority figures of Mahora Academy, protecting two members of our school. We have to accompany them until we can return them safely to earth."

Jade nodded succinctly. "Then we should get going without any further delays." His slight smile returned. "What a sudden and strange party we've been thrown into. Well, let's see how long we manage…."

F I N

 _Author's Note: Character Introduction: Jade Curtis, Overcast, Vira-Lorr, Elaine, Ryuryu, Legretta, Van Grants._

 _Kiami and Kazumi are two of the characters who, in this split, were almost kind of 'leftovers'. Of course, Ami and Akari were in a similar situation, but the sudden need to include Aiden's family life in the story allowed a great place to drop Delryn into and shake it up._

 _Kiami and Kazumi ended up in just as good a place, sliding into one of my more preferred story moments, a section of the Tales of the Abyss game, and then had them joined by a couple more of my favorite characters. Well, I have lots of characters to introduce, so I'll go ahead and get started with that._

 _C olonel Jade Curtis, originally known as Jade Balfour, is one of the many fantastic characters in Tales of the Abyss. He is a young (mid-thirties) but extremely powerful mage and brilliant commander, as evidenced by his rank of Colonel. He is businesslike and extremely pragmatic in his tactical evaluations, and is generally able to make his decisions with a heart of stone, although he tempers it with mercy and more human traits when accompanied by allies with a weaker stomach. He is also sarcastic, mischievous, and delights in a little bit of chaos. He loves observing love triangles and the like and eggs all parties on from the outside, and takes delight in little spats and arguments. He has a truly caring heart, however, and often chooses the more enlightened path of granting sage advice instead of barbs when his charges are in need. In TotA, he created the art of 'fomicry' (magical cloning) that is the basis of the whole story, but here he is merely an excellent choice for a chance companion for our intrepid adventurers Kiami and Kazumi. His introduction here is similar to the early recruitment of him in TotA—the Divine Generals attack his Tartarus and take it while trying to capture Fon Master Ion. In that story, his power was sealed—by the similar seals I've mimicked in this story—giving a story reason for him being only the same level as your party once he joins. No need here, as most of the party members are near his level already…or not too far behind. Plus I've used them so much already…._

 _Overcast is based on the third member of my best friend trio (or one of his major characters, really). I wembled for a long time how to divide up the roles of Al and Rakan amongst the trio (in fact, early on, I almost used some of my father's major fantasy characters, like Etrigan and Terina, before deciding to bring in these three). I felt that Overcast would have made a better Albiero in some ways, but Jynx made the better childhood friend, and with all the people I already had I couldn't really find a place to put Overcast in. I could have replaced Eishun and/or Gato with him, but considering their fates…it just didn't feel right._

 _So I brought him in here as Jade's right-hand man, a skilled and versatile mage showing off some of his favorite anime powers. He will provide some important back-up combat, and, perhaps, a little bit of a romantic distraction for some of the ladies (I always hate harem situations because I feel sorry for those who end up with the unrequited love…hence my love of using/throwing in/creating distracting love interests) but don't expect much. His age is a bit high at this point—he's about 17 or 18 versus the 14 or 15 of the girls—hence maybe a small amount, but it's a potential…. Well, enough of that._

 _V ira-Lorr is one of the first characters recruited in RoAW. She is, as noted in the story, an 'onelthes', as they call the race of 3-eyed seers. She is also a powerful mage, using 'pure' and earth magic, mostly. She loves to drink and enjoy herself, but she can be a serious and cool-headed leader when required. Her main presence in the game comes from the fact that her sight has been sealed, and she can only see the hero Leonhardt (and his descendants) with her visions.  
_

_E laine is the third woman chosen by Dyshana in RoAW's first generation. As a youth, she was betrothed to Leo (a nobility match) but they never really knew each other. However, when she begins to question Gridamas' actions, she decides to find Leo and aid him in his efforts to stop the war. She is pleasant and friendly, with a naturally caring heart and noble spirit. Despite their distance, she has been in love with Leo since their engagement and wants to become a perfect bride for him, and tries to master the maternal arts, such as cooking, for his sake, even though she is terrible (comically so) at it…._

 _R yuryu is the third woman chosen by Dyshana in the 4_ _th_ _generation. She is a seer, confined to a quiet village, until Duran and his party come along and she foresees that she is one of three who may become Duran's wife, and agrees to follow the party if they will aid her. She has been generally cloistered, but has not grown up naïve; on the contrary, she is generally sarcastic and teases Duran mercilessly, just to see his reaction, although she is occasionally mesmerized by dolls and the like that she has never seen before. She uses a scythe, as shown, and mostly light and lightning magic._

 _Ryuryu was, in fact, the original model (at least in appearance) for my villainess Kairen, and hence I remark about their similar appearances. In this universe, they are sisters. Ryuryu is, naturally, the more expressive of the two._

 _L egretta the Quick, or Giselle Oslo as she was called originally, is one of the six 'God-Generals' of the Oracle Knights of 'Tales of the Abyss'. Like the other God-Generals, she had reason to hate the Score that ruled the world, and was persuaded by Van Grants to serve him because of it. In her case, it was after she sought to kill him—her older brother was sent into a battle (by Van) that Van knew would get him killed, because of the Score. The all-encompassing domination of the Score, even to the extent that the Order of Lorelei promotes disasters, war, and all the rest if the Score says it's supposed to happen, because they believe that following the Score exactly will lead to greater peace and prosperity…and Van and his subordinates have cause to reject that Score with all their might and seek to destroy the world to rewrite the Score. Legretta also served as Tear's mentor and teacher. In this world, although without the Score, there is a similar pattern, and Legretta disappeared about eighteen months ago…until she was reunited with Van. What are Van and Legretta plotting in_ this _world alongside the Obsidian Star? All will be revealed in time, of course…as shown, Legretta is a master of guns magic, and a capable mage in her own right—a mage powerful enough to be the right-hand woman of Van Grants._

 _A nd as for Van Grants himself, he is the main antagonist of TotA. When the Score predicted war between Malkuth and Kimlasca, the two nations centered their efforts on the island of Hod, and the young child Vandesdelca (his full name) was used as a test subject in a machine that produced artificial hyperresonances, which caused the destruction of the entire island. Van saved himself and his pregnant mother with the power of the fonic hymns, and his little sister Tear was born in the dark, foul underworld of the Qliphoth. Knowing that all this was done because of the Score, Van developed a hatred of it and a plan to destroy Lorelei, the seventh fonon, and the Score itself, so that the world wouldn't be captive to the Score anymore (and, of course, he also was the only one with access to the final fonstones, which foretold how the world would eventually come to ruin and be destroyed,_ not _suffer an era of peace and prosperity). This Van, similarly, is of a family that served the royal family of Kanev for generations, but with the destruction of that nation twenty years ago, they were forced to flee, and Van has his own issues. Again, the full details will be revealed of the course of his interferences here. Van is a powerful swordsman and mage, and ten years ago was part of a special task force sent into Arcanus Myrror on a secret mission, just after the destruction of Kain's hometown. There's a lot that happened 'about ten years ago'—Kain's hometown's destruction, the disappearance of Van, Rin's father, Kajirô's brother, Kagome's mother, Hinagiku's parents…hmm…. Obviously, it's just coincidence…right? :D_

 _Well, that's enough of that for now. Let's get on to yet another separated party member…Hikaru Tsukino…._


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Four: Dastardly! The Hunted Sorceress!

Lina stared up at the large public viewscreen, watching with the gathered crowd. The red-haired young man took the microphone from the yôkai reporter girl and turned to the camera. "My name is…Kalan Lockeheart!" he proclaimed.

Lina chuckled to herself as the crowd around her began to react and murmur to this bold declaration. "That idiot…he's sure gone and attracted attention to himself. Still, I can see where he's going…that's not a bad strategy…."

Gourry glanced around at the agitated crowd. "What's with them?" he asked. "Is that guy famous or something?"

Lina did a double take. "How dense can you be? Don't you even know who Kalan Lockeheart is?"

"Hmm…sounds kinda familiar, I guess…."

"The Grand Archmage! He was only the most famous wizard of the past ten generations! He was still a child when he vanquished the Obsidian Star and saved the world! Or," Lina continued to herself, considering what she had recently learned, "he almost vanquished them. But if they're making a comeback…."

"Well, I don't really understand," Gourry said. "But that guy on the screen who saved the world is your friend, right? So you know he's all right now?"

"That's…more or less correct," Lina sighed. She looked back up on the screen. "So…he's joining that tournament, huh?"

"Anyway, we've eaten," Gourry said. "So, back on the road to Avalon?"

"We're not going to Avalon," Lina stated flatly.

"Oh? We're not?"

"No. Despite all the attention he's gotten ever since he was a child, he's always been uncomfortable with it, and avoids it when he can. If he's putting himself forward enough to join this tournament and then make a spectacle of himself, he's got a serious aim in mind. This tournament he's applying for will lead him to Orimus…which means he's probably aiming to reactivate the ancient gate at the old capital in order to send himself and all his students home. He probably has some other reason, too, but I can't guess at what he's planning without more details than that. Still, the celebration at the old capital…that would be the best place for us to go next. Are we clear?"

"Sorry, I wasn't really listening…."

"Mega Brand!"

8-8-8

Lina had taken to wearing a special pair of magical sunglasses since the discovery of her bounty problem. These shades were enchanted to make the wearer unnoticeable and unremarkable. If she interacted with people—making purchases, asking for directions, and the like—they would respond, but if questioned later, they would only remember that they spoke without remembering what the other was like. Naturally, it wasn't perfect—those with stronger magical power could see through it if they got too close, and if she made too big a scene (something she certainly had trouble with) it could break the spell. Still, as long as she avoided wizard-looking types and kept herself in check, she was fairly safe, and it was far better than being constantly harassed by bounty hunters and the like.

Yet someone with strong magic had obviously penetrated her disguise at some point. They were moving between towns by back roads and the like—better to be safe than sorry—but now Lina sensed the unmistakable sensation of someone following them.

"Lina," Gourry muttered to her, a look of concern evident on his features—obviously, despite the many faults of his mental faculties, he was not completely senseless when it came to sensing danger.

"I know," Lina growled back, mulling the situation over briefly in her mind. They were good, to be sure, haven't penetrated her magical disguise so easily, and now following them without leaving much evidence. However, things were only going to grow worse the longer they waited. Who knew, after all, whether they might have friends lying in wait ahead, or they might wait until they encountered local law enforcement before bursting out to seize their prey….

Better to confront them now, she decided. She suddenly started running forward and then whirled. "All right! Enough hiding! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

There was a chuckle from the nearby cover. "This little girl's pretty good," admitted a man with dark green hair and a thick green mustache as he emerged from the foliage around them. "I guess we should expect as much from a figure as well known as the Bandit Killer, eh, Rodimus?"

"Indeed, Zolf," replied another man, Rodimus, obviously, as he emerged next. He seemed rather old, with a bald head and a white beard of his own, but his large body seemed to carry the heavy metal armor he wore easily. He carried a dueling halberd—a shorter, six-foot version of the deadly axe-pike-pick combination polearm—and readied himself as Gourry drew his own sword.

"Bounty hunters come for my head?" She opened her left hand and let fiery magic gather in her palm. "You'll find it's not worth the trouble to go trying to take it. I'm feeling merciful today, so if you just back off, you won't get burned."

"Your bounty isn't our concern," Zolf retorted, throwing his cloak back and thrusting his own hands out to prepare gathering magical energy. "Our employer has other objectives, as mysterious as they are…not that it matters much in this case."

Rodimus charged forward, and Gourry met him with his own weapon. Sword and halberd clashed as the two warriors tested each other.

"Not bad for such an old man," Gourry commented.

"You're pretty good yourself, kid," his opponent responded.

Meanwhile, Zolf launched his spell at Lina. "Flare Arrow!"

Lina dodged to the side and raised her hand over her head. "Fire…!"

She was cut off suddenly as the ground around her suddenly collapsed into a muddy, sliding hill. Lina cried out as she began to tumble out of sight.

"Lina!" Gourry cried in alarm.

"Where are you watching, kid?" Rodimus scolded, slashing at Gourry.

The blond man ducked under the swing and lashed out with his foot, sending the surprised older warrior sprawling. He was instantly heading towards Lina, but suddenly a new figure appeared in Gourry's way. He blocked the sword used by his new foe—a large wolf-like creature with green fur.

"Good timing, Dilgear," Rodimus said as he picked himself up.

"Out of my way!" Gourry insisted, straining his sword against the wolfman's.

Dilgear laughed at him—he had the face for it. "Why don't you make me move, blondie?"

Gourry threw Dilgear off, but then Rodimus charged in at him from behind, and Gourry was forced to turn and catch his weapon on his blade. For the moment, he realized, he couldn't help Lina until he could deal with both of his current foes….

Lina meanwhile, was tumbling down the hill roughly, unable to even catch herself with a flying spell. She finally stopped at the bottom, her spell scattered harmlessly away during the trip down. As she began to pick herself up, a figure suddenly stepped into view in front of her, and she quickly leapt up and moved backwards.

He was dressed head to foot in cream-colored clothing—tunic, hooded cloak, and breeches, fingerless gloves, and even the cloth pulled up over his face to hide everything but his eyes…. "So…I'd wager you're the leader of this merry band, huh? What's wrong with your face? Got something to hide?"

"Lina Inverse, the notorious bandit killer," the man replied. "You're a force to be reckoned with. Let's see how all this plays out." He drew a sword from his belt, a straight-edged longsword with an elaborate golden wing-like guard. He charged in on the girl.

She dodged backwards and prepared one of her faster spells. "Flare Arrow!" She launched the flaming missile at her foe.

The man dodged aside and put a hand to the ground. "Vlave Howl!" Streaks of black began to race across the ground towards Lina.

"Shamanism?" Lina cried as she dodged aside. "So, a mage and a swordsman…."

"Fireball!"

"Ray Wing!" As the destructive spell came towards her, Lina cast her own spell and took the sky, a wind barrier providing lift and protection. As she rose above, however, another blast of energy came flying in from behind her.

"You again," she muttered as Zolf came into view. "Two of you to take on one little girl, huh? Well, then…." She began to gather power in both of her hands. "Dragon of darkness which sleeps in the inferno. Lend me your roar to burn my enemies to ashes. Gaav Flare!"

Lina let her blast of chaos-fire descend on her two foes. In the cover of the ensuing explosion she dashed back down to the ground amidst the cover of the trees, knowing that standing out in the open, fully exposed in the air, was not her best follow-up play.

Zolf emerged from the smoke, choking and blackened. "Lord Zelgadis!" he cried as he charged up a spell to retaliate.

Lina, moving swiftly, began to charge up a spell of her own, but suddenly the cream-clad Zelgadis emerged from the smoke behind her. She whirled around to match his sword or spell, but she wasn't ready for the small cube he proffered instead. As it arced towards her, it began to separate, and bathed her in a cloud of energy.

"A magic seal!?" Lina shrieked as the energy washed over her. Finally the energy faded, leaving her both magically powerless and physically weakened, and Zelgadis raised a hand towards her face. The point-blank sleep spell sent Lina into oblivion.

"Well, that's that," Zelgadis said softly. He raised his hand straight up and fired a flare of magic into the air, which burst like a firecracker.

Some distance away, Dilgear and Rodimus stood panting, warily observing their blond opponent. "Not bad, kid, holding both of us off," Rodimus commented.

Before Gourry could reply, the light burst in the sky above them. "That's the signal! We're done for now!" Dilgear declared, and the two of them surprised Gourry by turning and running off.

Gourry stared after them as they departed, shocked by this unique tactic. He finally lowered his sword. "What was that about?" he said aloud. And then he looked around. "And where's Lina gotten to…?"

8-8-8

Lina winced as pain coursed through her body, shocking her from a slow recovery from unconsciousness to instant alertness. Her hands were bound…and above her. They were tied by a rope that was tied to some sort of cave ceiling, leaving her hanging suspended above the craggy stone floor. This uncomfortable position was the source of most of her pain, as well as the bruises that covered portions of her body.

Nearby, Zolf and Rodimus sat at a campfire, the smoke wafting up from the flame in an almost purposeful direction indicating some sort of vent or hole in the ceiling of this subterranean lair. They ate food in silence, not paying much attention to their captive.

Someone, however, noticed her rousing. "So, you're awake."

She painfully turned halfway to her right and saw the cream-clad mystic swordsman. His hood was down, revealing his face—sickly blue skin, sharp purple hair that seemed to shine like metal in the firelight, and dark stone-like contusions all over his face. The sight of it—and the energy of it and what it meant—intrigued Lina. "So…that's why you have to hide your face outside. Interesting…."

Zolf was on his feet, red-faced and angry. "Hey! Don't insult our master, Zelgadis Greywords, you flat-chested little witch!"

"What did you call me, you blind and deaf idiot!?" she shot back angrily. "Your beloved 'master' here just reminded me of someone I know! Obviously my tone was far from insulting. You seem to have no use for eyes or ears…."

"You…!" Zolf produced a feather out of nowhere. As Lina stared in shock, Zolf began to tickle her with it. "How's that?" he taunted her as she convulsed and laughed from the torment. "Talk back to your captors, you ugly little girl? Maybe this will teach you…."

"CUT IT OUT!" Lina lashed out with a foot angrily and caught Zolf right in the special equipment slot. As he collapsed to the ground with a low whine, Lina sighed in relief.

A barking laugh came from Lina's other side, and Dilgear came into the light. "Be careful playing with her, Zolf, this little girl's a real fireball!" Then he caught Lina's stare. "Eh? Something the matter, girlie?"

"Wolf yôkai…but that's not all, are you? You've got troll in you too, don't you? Doesn't seem natural…."

"Ho…this girl is sharp, all right," laughed a new voice. "Even with her magic sealed, she's quite observant and recognizes the work of magic quite well."

A tall, blond-haired man in black and blue robes approached, carrying a gaudy staff in his hand. An odd comet-like sigil decorated the shoulder of his mantle. Lina noticed this, too, with interest. "Horius," Zelgadis acknowledged the man.

"So…the Obsidian Star," Lina said flatly. All of her captors considered her with surprise. "That explains a few things…quite a few, in fact. You put the bounty on us just to get your hands on us?"

Horius stared in surprise, then laughed. "No, that wasn't us," he said, stroking his chin. "True, we have used such tactics before, but to our masters, your little band of 'White Wings' is little more than an afterthought at the moment, particularly considering how scattered you are. Someone else is responsible for that…but it made it easier to find you. 'You' [plural] are merely my interest, not that of my colleagues…and even so, it's not really you [singular] I'm interested in. You are merely bait to draw out the real prize."

"Kain," Lina said flatly. "Well, good luck with that. As scattered as we are, I'm not even sure where he is…."

"Oh, that's not a problem. He's made quite a spectacle of himself over in the wild western lands. His fame will help protect him, but with a prize like you on hand, it will be easy to draw him out….

Damn. Oh well, it was worth a try…. "And what do you want him for, anyway? It's not like he's much of a threat, as you said. We all got schooled pretty badly by Eminus and his little band…."

"Of course. But he has so much potential…so much strong magic within him…."

Lina sighed. "Goodness, what a third-rate villain. You're so easy to read, and you're practically begging for a chance to reveal your evil plans. So, you want to experiment with Kain's body, too, and turn him into another one of your little chimera toys, like the wolf, this 'Zelgadis', and that Eminus kid?"

The group stared at her in shocked silence. Then Zelgadis burst out, "W-what? What the hell are you talking about!?"

Horius recovered and chuckled. "Ho…clever girl, but again, your assumptions, while logical, are not completely on the mark. Dilgear is the only one of the three that I have modified, I must admit…."

"Not too surprised. There seems to be quite a gap between him and Zelgadis…and an even larger one between Zelgadis and Eminus, although they're closer to the same thing. Zelgadis is golem and yôkai mixed together with someone originally human, right? Eminus, on the other hand, is a creation, mostly elemental and golem. All three different…but similar enough to make it obvious that the Obsidian Star has had a hand with them…."

"What's this about, Horius?" Zelgadis demanded. "Is what she's saying true!? What relationship did Rezo have with your Obsidian Star?"

Rezo? Lina thought. That name…Rezo the Red Priest? What does he have to do with any of this…?

Horius held up a hand placatingly. "Now, now, Zelgadis…Rezo sought many avenues in his mad searchings to restore his sight. Some of his techniques with chimeric creations were passed to us in exchange for our help years ago. It is thanks to that, after all, that I have the knowledge to potentially help you…."

"Hmph. We'll see. At the price I paid to capture this girl for you, I better get the compensation you promised." Zelgadis turned on his heel and started away.

"Yes…I'm aware," Horius replied. "Those magic seals aren't cheap by any means. Don't worry…as I've already told you, we keep our promises…."

8-8-8

Soon Lina's captors separated to dark corners of the cave to bed down for the evening, leaving Lina alone in her most uncomfortable position. They didn't seem too keen on feeding her…at least at the moment, and complaining didn't seem to do much to arouse their faculties to providing anything on her behalf. After a few more moments of antagonism with Dilgear and Zolf, all parties seemed to grow fatigued of the bickering, and so Lina was left alone.

She tried to sleep as she could, but it was difficult to say the least. Powerless as she was, thanks to the magic seal Zelgadis had used on her, she was hardly a threat to this collection of mages and warriors, and, as such, she hoped that at least she could be given enough freedom the next day to take care of her necessities….

Not that she wouldn't try and make a little trouble for them all if she got the opportunity, of course. Lina Inverse, powerless or not, was anything but a mere damsel in distress.

She was suddenly wakened from her half-sleep by the silent approach of a figure…in the tiny amount of ambient starlight drifting down from whatever hole in the ceiling had served as a chimney for the fire, she could see that it was Zelgadis—those plain cream-white clothes made him stand out compared to all the other flashy dressers around (including herself).

"You…" she began, and then recoiled as the man suddenly, wordlessly, drew his sword. She winced and turned her head away as she anticipated the blow…but suddenly the tension on her numb arms was eliminated and she collapsed roughly to the ground. She glanced down at her swollen but now freed wrists in shock for several moments while Zelgadis sheathed his sword. He then shocked her further by handing her all her personal items that had been taken from her earlier, including the short sword she carried.

"Don't make any noise," he advised her quietly as she readied her equipment. "Just come with me." And without any other word he turned and started away.

Lina had a thousand questions burning inside her, but she knew that Zelgadis' advisement was quite sensible, unless she wanted to become a prisoner again. Trusting the man who had captured her less than a day earlier was illogical and the strangest thing she could have done, but…under the circumstances, it was the only thing she could do.

Zelgadis led her outside and into the open air. She considered taking off immediately, but knew it was too risky to try. Instead she stopped and demanded, "All right, what the hell is this about? Not that I'm not grateful, but considering you were the one who captured me…you can imagine my surprise."

Zelgadis turned to her and stared for several moments. Then he said, "Tell me…what do you know about the Obsidian Star? More specifically, what do you know about 'Eminus'?"

Lina stared back, then folded her arms. "You're working for them, but not a part of them, huh? I only know rumors and what I've heard about the Obsidian Star…and, until now, I've only encountered them once. Specifically, I've encountered one of their agents, the chimeric elemental golem Eminus, while traveling between earth and Arcanus Myrror with my friend Kain Lockeheart and his companions. Kain had encountered Eminus once before this as well…that's all I know about them.

"As I mentioned earlier, I can tell that Eminus' construction is similar to your own…although Eminus is completely a construct, not an original human like you seem to be. Now, why don't you tell me what you're fishing for? Maybe then I can offer something a little more useful…."

Zelgadis stared at her for several more moments, then turned his gaze down to his open palm for several more seconds. Finally he began, "In my youth, I wanted to become powerful…a great mage and swordsman, like the legends of old…yes, you could even say like Kalan Lockeheart and his companions. Then, someone came to me to grant me the strength I sought…Rezo, the Red Priest."

"Rezo!?" Lina burst out in shock. "You mentioned him before…are you saying he's responsible for that body of yours?"

"Yes…and more than that. Rezo is both my grandfather and great-grandfather. That's probably why he took an interest in me…."

"Your…." Lina shook her head. "That's…surprising. Rezo, the Red Priest…the blind Archmage who walked the lands for centuries. He was never sighted commonly, but there were always enough tales of him to keep the legend going…his exploits were drowned out by the Red Wings, but it was said that he was active in saving lives during the war. But it's been several years since anything was last heard about him…and now…you're saying he's done things like…?"

"Rezo was, perhaps, originally a good man with pure intentions," Zelgadis allowed. "However…something darker was inside of him, driving him. My entire life, from perhaps my birth to the culmination of my transformation into this form, was part of his machinations. He never revealed what they were to me, not up to the moment he was killed."

"Killed?"

"I don't know how it happened," Zelgadis said. "It was about five years ago, and at the time I was an officer in the army of beastmen and mercenary mages he'd been assembling. Zolf and Rodimus were part of that group. Rezo was usually out alone, pursuing his agendas, and only leaving occasional orders with us." He shook his head. "I don't know how, or why…but at that moment five years ago, I knew that he was dead. Either in my blood, or in my created body, I had a link with him, and I felt it when he died. Shortly afterwards, the army dissolved and I went my own way.

"I've hated this body ever since Rezo gave it to me, and I've hated Rezo as well. I had a mixture of feelings when I felt his death…mostly a mixture of relief and dismay, relief over my freedom, but dismay over the fact that I retained this cursed body. My greatest desire has been to find a way to change my body back to normal."

"And that's why you're working for Horius…he promised to return you to normal." Lina nodded. "I see…but even if what I've told you about Eminus has made you suspicious of Horius and whether he can keep his promises, why are you releasing me?"

"Well," Zelgadis said, turning away. "It's true that you're not really much use to me magically right now…with your magic power sealed away, you're nothing more than a sharp-tongued brat…."

Lina twitched in anger. "Listen, you! Whose fault do you think that is in the first place!?"

"Regardless," the man continued, ignoring her, "it's not as if my suspicions about Horius started with your testimony. But you have friends and allies scattered across this world, don't you?"

"Yes…but key word: they're scattered. They could be anywhere…and even if we could gather them all that easily, what are you planning to do with them? What do they have to do with your issues with Horius?"

"I was never much interested in working for Horius to begin with, and his evasion about the matter proves that he has no intention of restoring my body to normal, despite his promises…at least not until he's thoroughly used me up. However, if he's studied the arts of chimeric transformations and creations with Rezo, he should have the knowledge to do so. So if I can't coax it out of him, I'll simply have to beat it out of him. That will make the Obsidian Star my enemy, so I might as well gather as many allies as I can to oppose them…and from what I've heard and learned, you and yours should be counted amongst their staunchest opponents, right?"

"I guess so…so now all of a sudden you've decided to become buddy-buddy with us? Well, it got me out of there, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining…."

A long, hoarse laugh suddenly broke through the silence of the night. "So, that's what it is, Zelgadis? You're betraying us for this brat?"

Zelgadis turned as the green-furred wolfman emerged from the shadows. "Listening in, Dilgear? Then you should have heard everything. I have no need to for loyalty to those who only give me empty promises."

"Ha!" Dilgear laughed again. "So, then, it seems we've come to opposite sides, Zelgadis. I always thought that would happen." More monstrous humanoids came into view as Dilgear drew his sword. "Well, then…I guess we'll have to deal with you…."

"So these are your usual companions, Dilgear?" the other man responded, drawing his own sword. "More of Horius' creations? Not surprised. You'd better stand back, Miss Inverse…."

"Taking on this many yourself, eh? Don't be cocky, kid!" Dilgear and his goons came charging in.

Zelgadis stood still as he waited for them, then he suddenly opened a palm. "Fireball!" To the surprise of his opponents, however, he did not throw it their way, but threw it at his own feet. The resulting explosion of the deliberately small magic spell obscured them.

As Lina recoiled in surprise, Zelgadis went dashing by, snatching her up as he went. They were long by the time Dilgear and his cronies had recovered from their sight.

"H-hey! Watch where you're grabbing!" Lina demanded. "And are you crazy, with a stunt like that?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Zelgadis replied as he dumped Lina to the ground. "C'mon. We better keep moving."

"Great," Lina grumbled. "Well, where to, anyway? You got a plan?"

Zelgadis shrugged and turned away. "We do pretty much what you were doing in the first place. We wander…on our way to Orimus. I assume that was your destination before I captured you, after 'Kalan Lockeheart's' grand demonstration. That's as good as any other destination…and we'll pick up whoever we can on the way, including your blond bodyguard, if we find him."

"Great," Lina muttered as she followed after the man. "Yeah, he's probably nothing but a little lost puppy right now…."

8-8-8

Zelgadis seemed intent on avoiding civilization as much as possible. This partially annoyed Lina—despite her adventuring lifestyle, she preferred civilization's comforts, particularly good restaurants—but she understood the reason for it. After all, she was a fugitive, and now Zelgadis could count on being hunted by his former employer.

However, at times Zelgadis did have to stop in town…for supplies, for directions, and for information….

"Something's wrong with this town," Lina muttered as the pair ate in the corner of a small restaurant. "It's too quiet…even for some place out in the sticks of Dalkia's border. This place smells…."

"I agree," Zelgadis said. "I hoped we could get a bit of news here before moving into Halteese, but it might have been a mistake coming here…."

Then there was a scream, and then a trio of trolls burst into eatery (through the wall, in fact). Lina and Zelgadis jumped to their feet and brandished their weapons. They put the foes down hastily, then hurried outside to get a better grasp of the situation.

The town was already in flames, and monsters—orcs, trolls, and beastmen, many bearing the marks of Horius' chimeric transmutations—were rampaging around in force. "Damn," Lina swore. "Did Horius track us here, or did his troops just get lucky?"

"Regardless, we can't stick around…be careful!"

Even as Zelgadis spoke, a group of monsters leapt at the pair, and their charge drove the two apart as they dodged away. Lina rolled to her feet quickly and cupped a hand. "Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright, let thy power gather in my hand! Fireball!"

Red flame energy formed in Lina's grasp, causing her to smile slightly. She hurled the missile at an advancing orc…and it struck him in the face, exploding and blinding him, but causing only superficial physical damage. It thrashed about wildly as Lina hurriedly retreated.

"Blast, still a ways to go," she muttered.

Regardless…that's impressive, Zelgadis thought. The 'magic seal' was a special magical item designed to render mages completely useless. It released a spell, a kind of curse that sealed the 'magical circuits' that ran through humans' bodies, preventing them accessing the flow of mana. They were only temporary, although they would generally last a year or longer, and there were few known ways to dispel the curse. Yet she's been meditating every day, working on undoing the seal from within…and she's actually succeeded, if only to a small degree. A sorcery genius, indeed…if it came to a true battle, with her full power, she would be a fearsome opponent….

And yet, even with her magical power available as little more than a distraction, Lina was impressive. Her sword skills were superb for someone who nearly relied wholly on magic, and she fended off and put down several monsters at they came at her. Zelgadis, meanwhile, quickly mowed down the group with his own potent sword and sorcery, but their numbers were greater still.

Suddenly the group around Lina backed off, leaving her alone. As she looked up in surprise, a humanoid figure approached, something that was at once both more and less human than most of the monsters that she had been fighting. Its legs were thin and knobby, but its feet ballooned out to large, perfectly round discs. Its flesh was green, its arms long and almost hourglass shaped, and its humanoid head held red eyes and slicked-back black hair, with no nose, mouth or ears. It seemed to wear no clothing other than a kind of leather harness, but it had no features that would suggest that nudity was any problem for it.

Lina narrowed her eyes. Even with her magic sealed, she could tell that this thing was quite a bit more than human. "Mazoku," she muttered.

The thing laughed. "Not quite, although they are nearly my kin. I hail not from hell, but from the Obsidian Star…I am Lotesh, and you may think of me as an 'Obsidian Knight'. Normally I would break your body and drink your mana, but Master Horius still has use for you…still, feel free to struggle. It will make my victory all the more entertaining…."

He raised a hand and a swarm of magical missiles flew towards Lina, who dodged backward and began to flee.

"Lina!" Zelgadis cried, but then a large green form flashed into view and dropped on him, and Zelgadis was forced to parry the attacking sword.

"Don't look away, Zelgadis!" Dilgear cried. "Our fun is just starting…."

Zelgadis took up a serious stance. "Do you think you can really stand against me, Dilgear?"

Dilgear sneered. "Who knows…but I don't plan to take you alone." A group of his monsters swiftly flanked him. "Try your best, shaman!"

As Zelgadis clashed with his former ally, Lina was forced farther and farther away from him by the demonic attacker. Lotesh laughed and taunted Lina as he allowed her to just dodge his spells.

Finally Lina tripped and fell…at the feet of another figure. She glanced up in shock at the quizzical face of Gourry Gabriev. "Lina! So you are here! Amazing…."

"W-what are you…is that really you, Gourry!?" Lina demanded incredulously, hardly believing what she was seeing.

Before Gourry could reply, Lotesh interrupted. "Well, well…are you with her, blondie? You, I can kill…."

Gourry glanced up at it and put a hand to his sword. "This guy…is he responsible for attacking you? And for attacking this town?"

Lotesh laughed. "As responsible as anyone. Come, little man! Give me your best!"

"All right!" Gourry agreed, and charged.

"Wait!" Lina protested. "He's a demon, the equivalent of a mazoku! An ordinary sword won't touch him!"

Heedless of her cries, Gourry rushed in, drawing his sword and raising it to strike. Lotesh stood in his path, his arms expanded to the side, welcoming Gourry to attack. Down came the sword, and it cleaved perfectly through the green creature…but nothing else happened. Gourry stared in shock and Lotesh laughed. He raised a hand and a burst of energy sent Gourry flying back to Lina.

"I told you, you idiot…" Lina muttered.

Lotesh laughed again. "Despair, little humans! A sorceress with sealed power and a mindless swordsman are no match for me. Fear, and despair, and give me a little more pleasure before I end this hunt…."

"I see," Gourry muttered as he began to pick himself up. "So I guess an ordinary sword won't work on you, right?"

"That's right," Lotesh agreed. "How well you've done to figure it out!"

"Well then," Gourry said, sheathing his sword. "I guess I'll have to try something else." He started towards Lotesh at a slow walk.

"Wait a minute!" Lina cried again. "Gourry, what are you doing!? You can't fight him without any magic! Just run away!"

"The girl has a point," Lotesh said. "Has fear made you even more mindless than before? Do you have an aim in mind?"

"Naturally, I'm preparing to defeat you," Gourry declared, stopping.

"Oh, really? With a sheathed sword?"

Gourry removed a pin from a small pouch on his belt and pressed some sort of button or trigger on his sword's handle. There was a faint 'click'. "Did that mean anything to you?" Gourry said, smiling at the demon.

"Alas, the pin is less mighty than even your useless sword," Lotesh replied.

"What about this!?" Gourry declared, pulling his sword back out…except that there was no longer a blade on the ornate handle.

"I can see your brain is even more addled than before. Tell me, what's the next step in your little game?"

"The next step…is checkmate." Gourry took the 'weapon' in both hands. "Light come forth!" he cried, and in response a beam of blue-white light emerged from the hole at the top of the hilt. It exploded into shape and hummed as it shimmered in front of their eyes.

Lina and Lotesh both stared in shock as Gourry held up his would-be lightsaber. "It can't be," Lina breathed. "That's…."

With a battle cry, Gourry charged forward, and Lotesh, shrieking in terror, could do nothing to stop the onslaught. His dodge was slow, and Gourry cut the demonic creature in two with the light. His body slowly evaporated from its two halves as Gourry calmly walked away, his sword winking out as he replaced it in its sheath. He started as he saw Lina staring at him, her eyes shining.

"Gourry…" she murmured.

"L-Lina…?" Gourry hazarded.

"You've gotta let me have that sword!" Lina burst out, rushing up on him. "I'll tell you what…I'll give you five hundred juls for it!"

"Five hundred…hey, that's only the price of an ordinary sword!" Gourry protested.

"Oh, fine then…five thousand juls!" Lina offered generously.

"Listen, do you even know what this sword is?"

Lina blinked in surprise, shocked that he would even ask. "Of course I do. It's the legendary Sword of Light, an ancient weapon that was used to defeat the Demon Beast Zanifar around five hundred years ago. Although, thinking about it, I wonder how you got a hold of it…."

"It's my family heirloom," Gourry explained. "My ancestor first used it a long time ago…to kill…." He thought hard. "A demon beast…Zennifur? Jennifer? Zani…."

"It's Zanifar, you moldy-brained zombie! The Demon Beast Zanifar! I just mentioned it!" After throttling Gourry a little, Lina sighed and relented. "Well, so you're the descendant of the legendary Swordsman of Light? You don't seem it. You should tell people these kinds of things! But enough of that; I'm glad to see you and all…thanks for saving my life and everything…but how did you find me, anyway?"

There was a laugh from off to Lina's left. She turned and narrowed her eyes at the man seated at a nearby table, completely at ease in the midst of the chaos around them as he sipped tea. He smiled at her and waved. "We meet again, Lina-san. I admit I am the one who pointed him your direction."

Lina remembered him quite well. The short, purple hair in a bowl cut, the closed, mocking eyes, the black and yellow outfit and cloak, the staff with a large red orb on the top…it was the 'priest' she remembered quite well….

8-8-8

Gourry glanced around. "And where'd Lina go?" he wondered aloud.

"I'm afraid she was kidnapped."

Gourry turned and raised an eyebrow at the man who was suddenly standing there. "Who are you?" Then, before he could receive a reply, he exclaimed, "Oh, I see! You're a traveling entertainer!"

The man, about the give his introduction, was brought up short by this assessment and nearly fell over. "T-that's not quite right…" he began. He straightened up, coughed into his fist, and, his dignity somewhat recovered, he introduced himself. "My name is Xellos…the Roguish Priest. I can help you find Lina Inverse…if that's what you want…."

"If that's what I want?" Gourry blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she's irritable, easily angered, greedy and selfish…do you really want to risk your life for a girl like that?"

Gourry folded his arms and considered. "Well…all that you say is pretty much true…but still, I promised that I would be her bodyguard and protect her! So if you can help me find her…then lead on!"

Xellos smiled at him. "Hmm. Nice choice. Well, we should be able to meet up with her if we go this way…."

"Hey!" Gourry began. "How do you know all of this, anyway?"

Xellos smiled and put a finger to his lips. "That…is a secret!"

8-8-8

"But not so much," Lina said. "Xellos, the Roguish Priest…but in other circles, someone who usually bears the epithets of 'Beast Priest' and 'The Riddler'. A true mazoku, the lone priest and general of 'Greater Beast' or 'Beastmaster' Zelas Metallium, and someone who wields about as much power as a demon prince." Lina half-smirked and half-glared at him. "You had me fooled for a long time, Xellos."

"Ah…t-that's…."

"A demon…huh!?" Gourry started. "Him!?"

"That's right." Lina turned back to the 'priest'. "Kain and those girls told me about how you helped out in the alternate timeline…where that student of his revealed magic to the world. Since I didn't travel with them, that alternate version of me never existed and I don't remember anything about it. But 'outsiders' like you have knowledge outside of time and space, so you remember that event…don't you?"

Xellos sighed. "Indeed I do," he admitted. "I really didn't want you to find out yet, but at the time there was little else I could do to ensure that Kain-san was able to correct the timeline. But, more importantly…isn't there someone else here we should help out?"

Lina and Gourry stared at him, then Lina started. "Oh, that's right! Zelgadis!"

"Zelgadis?" Gourry asked. "Who's that?"

"Never mind! Let's go!" Lina started hurrying back towards her newest ally, with Gourry and Xellos trailing her.

8-8-8

Zelgadis cut down the last of the monsters and turned to Dilgear. "Well, that's the last of your friends…are you finally ready to try your luck, wolfman?"

"Ha!" Dilgear barked back, readying his sword. "Do you really think you can cut me down? Let's see!"

Dilgear dashed in; Zelgadis dodged back and slashed him across the shoulder. To his surprise, Dilgear turned on him as if unwounded and struck back at Zelgadis. The spellsword leapt out of the way as Lina and company came running into view. "Zelgadis!" she cried.

Dilgear grinned his fang-filled grin at Zelgadis. The wound in his shoulder sealed itself almost instantly. "It seems you forgot," he said, patting his shoulder. "I'm not all wolf…I'm part troll, too,"

"Now that just seems unfair," Lina protested.

Zelgadis, however, smiled grimly. "I see. I did forget. Oh well." He raised his sword and, with a cry, came charging in again…rather recklessly, it would seem.

"No! Don't leave yourself open!" Lina cried.

Dilgear dodged under Zelgadis heavy strike and lashed out with his own blade, cutting Zelgadis across the stomach as he dashed past. However, the edge of Dilgear's blade cracked and splintered. "What!?" Dilgear demanded, aghast.

Zelgadis chuckled as he turned back to the man, his sword lowered. There was an evident slash through this tunic at abdomen level, but the flesh underneath…glistened slightly. "And you, Dilgear, forgot that I am one-third golem."

Cursing under his breath, Dilgear sheathed his damaged sword and began to spring away. "You just wait until I tell Master Horius on you! You'll regret this!"

"Whatever," Zelgadis sighed, sheathing his sword. He turned as Lina approached, the other two men flanking her. "It seems you've picked up some friends…your swordsman bodyguard and…." He narrowed his eyes at Xellos. "Who is this suspicious-looking vagabond?"

Xellos pointed at himself. "Suspicious-looking?" he asked, sounding somewhat hurt.

"He's Xellos. He's a mazoku," Lina explained matter-of-factly. "I don't know what motives he has, but he's helping us out…for now." She turned to Xellos. "Speaking of which, now that we're relatively safe, maybe you could explain a little bit about what you're doing here…and, not that I'm ungrateful you guided Gourry here to help out, but I'd really like to know about your motives…."

"Ah, well…that…is a secret. Well, that's what I'd like to say, but at the rate things are progressing, the Obsidian Star is going make things very troublesome for us. So, I guess I do owe you some measure of explanation…."

8-8-8

Zelgadis and Gourry watched the pair walk away. "Will they really be all right?" Gourry asked.

"If that Xellos is really a mazoku, and if everything he told us is true, then she'll be as safe with him for now as she would with anyone," Zelgadis replied. "And if Xellos can really take her to a sorcery doctor who can undo the seal I placed on her…that'll be the best for her. We'll just have to wait for her at Halteese…and try to distract Horius' forces in the meantime. Let's go." He turned and started away, and, after a moment, Gourry turned and followed him.

Man…how incredible, Lina thought. Who knew that the Obsidian Star had a secret like this? Well…this is bigger than I ever imagined. I have to let Kain know about this as soon as possible…and to have a chance of meeting up with him, I'm gonna have to get my powers back….

"So can this sorcery doctor really undo this magic seal?" Lina demanded of Xellos.

"Why, of course! Runan is a famous sorcery doctor who can undo any number of curses and enchantments. We'll have you back in tip-top shape in no time!"

"Right. If you say so." She glanced back over her shoulder. Zelgadis…Gourry…I'll be back soon. Kain…Nodoka…Yue…Ami…the rest of you…don't worry. We'll stop the Obsidian Star…and get you all home….

8-8-8

Author's Note: Character Introduction: Zelgadis Greywords

Well! Finally got that chapter put away. This chapter consists of a pair of mated ideas from the Slayers series—one from the original series, and one from NEXT. The introduction of Zelgadis in the first series was the basis for this, and it mostly followed that arc. Rezo sent Zelgadis and his crew (more on him in a minute) after Lina because she had acquired a 'Philosopher's Stone'—an item he needed to unseal his blind eyes. Lina, at the time, was powerless because it was 'that time of the month'. Although this little footnote was interesting and even integral to the plot at this point, interestingly, the whole 'that time of the month' scenario never really came up again, even though it should have happened, you know, once a month. It is an interesting idea to use sometime in magic…but not here. Instead, I had Lina's power sealed by an adaptation from Tales of the Abyss, their 'fonic seal'. Jade Curtis is introduced to the party as a 40s-level super mage (the rest of the party is around 10) and then the Divine General Largo the Black Lion uses a 'fon seal' on him. It's mostly a plot device to put him around the party's level, and he explains over the course of the adventure that he's working on undoing the fon seal on himself, and around level 50 says he's undone it, but didn't expect everyone to catch up to him in power by the time he finished. In any case, as 'fonic power' is pretty much just like magic, so the idea of a powerful one-shot magic item that could long-term seal magic kind of appealed. This isn't the first time I have used it here, either…it's the same item Gafgarion tried to use against Kalan in the flashback I used in Part 8. Here, it presented a great opportunity to use against Lina to seal her so Zelgadis could easily capture her. And as Zelgadis suddenly decided to release her and join her team, turning against his master—in the original, Rezo, this time, Horius—my adaptation led into the second Slayers' motif, when the mazoku Magenta seals Lina's power. Xellos (who hadn't appeared yet in the earlier series) takes Lina to see a sorcery doctor to unseal it while the rest of the party guards Philionel, Crown Prince of Seyruun, from Magenta and her colleague Kanzel. That's where the next chapter with Lina will pick up, and I'll talk about that when it gets there.

Now, Rezo the Red Priest was the main villain throughout most of the original Slayers series, and there was a temptation to leave him involved. However, he's a bit too big for the bit part each of these side groups is, if I have his full past revealed here. So he's going to serve another purpose…to show what happened to Gato Kagura Vandenberg five years ago. Perhaps I'll save off talking about that until the flashback comes….

_Zelgadis Greywords is the third major character of the Slayers series. Introduced initially as an antagonist, he quickly forsakes his old ties and aids Lina and Gourry against Rezo. He is generally their comrade throughout the rest of the series…at the end of each separate series, the group generally separates, and then its members meet up again in the first episode of the next series, and occasionally they meet him being contracted by their enemy, but he quickly finds reasons to switch sides. His past is quite as he explained it…a youth seeking power was approached by Rezo (whom he finds to be his grandfather and great grandfather…) and was changed into a powerful chimeric creature, part construction, part monster and part human. Having his wish granted in such a horrible way, his entire purpose is to find a way to get back to normal, a quest that is never fulfilled, and which he pursues (usually with questionable help from Lina) over the course of the series. Zelgadis is generally antisocial and tries to act more ruthless than he is, and early on (during the early parts of the first two series) often tries to go his own way and avoid the rest of the 'party'. However, eventually he grows to accept them all and stops complaining about their attention. He is skilled in magic, particularly 'Shamanism', a magic that, in Slayers mythos, instead of contracting the power of demons (Black Magic) or the power of the heavenly race (White Magic), calls on the spirits of the astral plane and those native to the earth. He is also a skilled swordsman who can enchant his sword to make it stronger and resist other spells. He is one of the main four—and the last I'll introduce in this story. I already have too many kingdoms to introduce Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun and her kingdom in….

So, we again pause the Slayers angle to take up Kagome and Inuyasha's story. Avant!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Five: Electric! The Fox Child and the Thunder Brothers!

"Kaze no Kizu (Wind Scar)!"

The wave of energy washed forward, putting an end to the demonic creature. Kagome clapped as Inuyasha turned away, putting his sword away as it reverted back to its battered, thinner state. "Nicely done," she congratulated him. "You're getting better at using that thing."

"Yeah," the hanyô said negligently. "I wish I could say the same for you and your archery skills."

"Well, excuse me!" Kagome replied huffily. "I never took any kyûdo classes or anything! Just because I'm related to that family doesn't make me an archer…."

"Yeah, I can see that." He turned away. "We should get going."

Kagome sighed as she started after him. "Hard to believe it's been three weeks since we started our journey," she said wistfully. "I wonder how everyone else is doing…?

"And when are we going to get to civilization?" she complained. "It's been forever since I've had a bath…."

"Ah, cripes, quit your complaining. Takamori was a pretty backwater place, which was one of the reasons I drifted here in the first place. Less people to bother me…."

"Right, right…."

The two continued their argumentative banter, occasionally joined by Myôga the flea, unaware that a pair of eyes watched them from the shadows….

8-8-8

Kagome's arrow, blazing with spiritual energy, struck home, and the small lizard-like creature convulsed in pain as it slowly dissolved. "I got him!" she exulted, turning to Inuyasha in triumph.

Inuyasha gave a kind of harrumph sound and sheathed his sword. "Not bad. See? Tracking through the wilderness like this has at least helped somewhat. Too bad you've finally picked up the knack when it's no use. Another day and we'll be in the 'civilized' lands of Halteese, and that should put an end to most of our battles."

"Yeah, yeah," Kagome sighed, deflated. "In any case, we're almost to…Loreet, was it?"

"That's right," Myôga replied. "A small town, but it has most of the civilized amenities you're used to, including a public video screen used for major news events…common in the smaller towns of these lands that don't have regular televisions. What's your plan once we get there?"

The two had put their weapons away and were moving now finally out of forest and onto something resembling a road. Kagome considered. "I really need to get more information," she sighed. "Myôga-jii-san told me that we're all wanted for destroying the Gateports…I hope no one else got caught. I've got to find some way of disguising myself, or else I could be in trouble…."

Inuyasha snorted. "Why bother? It's not like anyone will recognize you anyway. I mean, there's not anything significant about you. You're not that pretty or anything…."

Kagome stopped and glowered after him. Then she said, "Osuwari," and Inuyasha collapsed magically to the ground.

"Well!" she continued indignantly as Inuyasha twitched on the ground. "Excuse me for not being noticeable! I don't know how this Kikyô could ever stand you! And speaking of which, you must not have thought anything of her in the first place, if I'm supposed to look just like her…."

She stopped suddenly as she stared up at the strange, blue-green flames that appeared overhead. "You," boomed a noticeably immature and childlike voice from the flame. "You, who trespass on the land of the great demon…the great demon…Shuppozuka…you must pay for your trespass…." Then the swirling flames transformed into…a pink balloon with large, white eyes. It drifted closer to the pair.

Kagome stared up at it. "Is this supposed to be frightening?" she asked Inuyasha as the hanyô pulled himself to his feet.

"You must pay! That yôkai-slaying sword you carry, that is the price that must be paid for your trespass!"

"What is this supposed to be?" Inuyasha growled.

"Hmm," replied Myôga, who was sitting on Inuyasha's shoulder. "I believe it's kitsune bi (foxfire)."

Kagome calmly reached into a pocket of her navy blue skirt and pulled out a small stick. "Let's see…" she muttered to herself. "How did it go?" She pointed the wand at the cloud and intoned, "Shatter, thou world of soulless mirrors."

And the balloon exploded, turning into a small figure as it zipped around through the air (like, indeed, a burst balloon) and finally fell to the ground in front of them. It moaned audibly and then demanded, "Who's the one who dares burst my bubble?"

Inuyasha stomped over and picked it up…by its bushy tail. "So, what's this? That 'great demon' is just this little tanuki cub?"

"I'm a fox!" the little figure responded angrily. It was dressed in a kind of orange vest over a blue shirt and blue trousers, but its bare feet completely resembled an animal's feet…yes, a fox's paws, indeed. The bushy tail, which Inuyasha now held, emerged from the seat of said trousers, yet its hands and face appeared human. It had its brown hair in a bushy pony tail, bound by a blue ribbon, and the most inhuman features of its head were its slightly pointed ears, ears that greatly resembled Kenjirô's.

"Fox, tanuki, whatever," Inuyasha droned with ennui, shaking the runt slightly. "So, what's your story, anyway, trying to scare travelers and steal my sword? Not that I really care…."

"After you're done, can I feel it?" Kagome asked, staring at the bushy tail as she pocketed her wand.

"I'm trying to teach a lesson here!" Inuyasha shot back angrily. As he turned his attention away, the child reached into a pocket and suddenly brought out an object and held it up to Inuyasha's hand.

"Huh?" The next instant Inuyasha's grasp came free of the demon and was crushed under an extreme weight. It was the form of a pottery doll, black and looking slightly like a tanuki—it was called a jizô by the Japanese, a representation of a guardian spirit of children. Inuyasha's hand smashed into the ground and lay there, immobile under the extreme weight of the strange object. Inuyasha struggled mightily to free his hand, but to no avail. "What the hell is this!?" he demanded.

The fox leapt over and scooped up Inuyasha's sword, scabbard and all. "Our time together was short but sweet!" it intoned with fervor. "Farewell!" Then it vanished with a pop. Inuyasha cried in shock and the three looked around desperately.

"Well, what's that over there?" Myôga remarked. The sword was visible in the grass by the road, bobbing clumsily in the air as demon struggled to carry it. Growling in rage, Inuyasha managed to upset the object that crushed his hand, and followed after the pint-sized thief.

Inuyasha almost instantly caught up to his antagonist and walloped him directly over the head. A moment later he replaced his sword as Kagome applied her wand to the wound. "This might sting a bit," she cautioned as she let her small healing spell deal with the injury—despite its intentions, she couldn't bring herself to treat the child poorly. "Why do you need Inuyasha's sword anyway?" Kagome asked.

"Who cares!?" Inuyasha barked. "It's just a stupid…."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome warned him dangerously, glaring at him. Inuyasha, remembering the punishment he had received mere moments earlier, fell silent with a grumble.

Kagome returned her gaze to the child, who looked up at her with defiance as it blinked away its tears. "I need it," it mumbled. "I've been watching you for a while now. It's a powerful yôkai-slaying sword, right? There are really powerful yôkai around here, and I need to kill them."

"A weak little fox girl like you wants to kill other powerful demons?" Inuyasha scoffed. "Even with this sword, you wouldn't have a prayer!"

"I'm a boy! My name is Shippô!" the kit replied angrily. "You'll see! I will get my revenge on them! They killed my ôto, and I'm not going to let them get away with it!"

Kagome felt a definite pang of sympathy for the child. "Revenge?" she questioned. "You mean your father's…dead? Who are these demons?"

"They're called the Thunder Brothers." Shippô explained. "They killed my ôto in order to take the Shapesphere he guarded."

"Hmm…the Thunder Brothers," Myôga intoned. "Hiten and Manten. The last surviving members of the Thunder Demon Tribe…they are supposed to be evil incarnate indeed. But what would two human-eating yôkai like that be doing so close to the civilized lands of Halteese? It wouldn't take any time at all to get a squad of BattleMages here to deal with them if the humans noticed them…."

"What's the Shapesphere?" Kagome interjected.

"The Shapesphere is a magical artifact that my family has guarded for generations," Shippô explained. "It's a marble that enhances the native powers inside the one who uses it and changes its shape according to those powers and its user's personality. It's the reason the Thunder Brothers came this close to Halteese. BattleMages don't bother with yôkai that don't attack humans, of course—even if humans in the cities are prejudiced against yôkai—so my father and I were perfectly safe. But something drove the Thunder Brothers down this way, gave them power and pointed them our direction, or something. That's what I heard them talking about while I was spying on them afterwards…that, and some sword and some girl…."

Kagome stared at Shippô for a few moments. "Inuyasha, I think we should help Shippô out and defeat these demons for him."

Inuyasha glanced sidelong at her. "Are you crazy? Why should we? This kid is a thief that tried to take my sword…and we don't even know if he's telling the truth. This business sounds fishy to me, and besides, weren't you the one who wanted to get to civilization so you could get yourself a 'bath' and all that? And now you suddenly want to go out of our way to help this thief of a brat?"

"Well, I don't care!" Shippô huffed. "I never said I wanted your help anyway! I'll go and get my revenge on my own! I wouldn't ask the help of a stupid half-demon in a hundred years! I can smell the human in you. A half-human shouldn't get involved in yôkai business."

"What's that, squirt!?"

"Hanyô are weak and stupid…besides of course that you're a dog. You couldn't beat the Thunder Brothers in a hundred years…."

But Inuyasha interrupted Shippô's rant with a barrage of punches upon his little head. "Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, and even Myôga mentioned the childishness of Inuyasha's actions.

As soon as Inuyasha's attacks relented, Shippô tore himself from the hanyô's grasp and dropped to his hands and knees, repeatedly dropping his head to the ground. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he pleaded tearfully.

"Heh. As long as you understand," Inuyasha crowed.

Shippô reached into his vest. "In apology…."

He then dropped something on Inuyasha's hands…which immediately grew into another super-weight jizô statue. Shippô instantly followed this up by slapping a fûda, a talisman in the shape of a strip of paper, onto the statue. He laughed in triumph and explained, "Unless that seal is removed, the jizô cannot be moved!"

"Why, you little…!" Inuyasha seethed.

"Hey, now!" Kagome objected, stepping forward.

Shippô regarded her. "And now, though I hate to do violence to a lady…." He jumped up cracked Kagome across the back of the neck. "…I'll have to have you sleep for a while!"

Kagome merely rounded on him, her own anger mounting. "That hurts, you know!"

"Eh!?" Shippô cried, shocked that his sure-kill martial arts failed. "Well, try this! Kitsune bi!"

The flames daunted Kagome suitably, and soon Shippô was scurrying away, Tetsusaiga once again in his hands. "I'll beat those Thunder Brothers with this!"

"The Tetsusaiga!" Kagome started after the fox-boy. "Give it back! I'm really getting mad now!"

"Hey, Kagome!" Inuyasha called desperately. "Get this ward off me before you go! Hey!"

8-8-8

A round and rather repulsive 'individual', for lack of a better word, stooped down and examined his reflection in the pool formed by rainwater. He was inhuman to say the least, short and fat with a long, animal-like face, smooth bald skin and rows of sharp teeth in its massive maw, dressed in various kinds of mismatched clothing and armor. A large furred orange sash of some kind adorned his waist, but his most prominent trait—at least, what he seemed to be paying the most attention to—was his three single strands of hair on the top of his head. "Ho…my hair," he murmured to himself, full of feeling and melancholy. If only I had full, flowing locks like Hiten-an-chan. Then I'd be as popular with the ladies as he is…."

The pair had just finished ravaging a nearby village their newly-grown powers, and they had separated temporarily to relax after the endeavor. As Myôga had said, continuous acts of this sort would draw the attention of Halteese's potent magical force, but these were two yôkai who, drunk on power, did not much regard the concerns of tomorrow over the pleasure of the day. However, the concerns of the day did draw their attention, and this demon, Manten by name, perked up suddenly as he sensed the presence. "What's that? A small amount of yôki…."

Shippô panted as he looked around, clutching the sword to his chest. "Did that do it?" he muttered. "I think I managed to lose her…."

"What do we have here?" boomed Manten as he appeared looming above the kitsune. "Why, I do believe it's the whelp of the kitsune from the other day. And what's this you've brought me? What a curious sword…."

"M-Manten…" Shippô breathed, paralyzed with fear over the memories involved with this beast…the one, in particular, that had dealt the killing blow to his father. Then his eyes fell upon the orange belt the creature sported. "T-that's…!"

Manten laughed and patted the fur. "That's right. This is your oyaji's pelt. How he must have comforted you before…it's so nice and warm…."

Shippô gritted his teeth, his anger replacing his fear for a decisive moment. "How dare you!" he screamed. "This time, with this sword, I'll get revenge for my father!"

With impressive dexterity he adjusted his grip on the scabbard in an instant, dropping it into a position where he could reach his tiny hands towards the massive hilt. As they closed on it, however, there was a burst of power and Shippô was repulsed. He cried in pain as he was thrown backwards, and the sword clattered to the ground.

Manten stared for a moment, and then began to laugh uproariously. "How amusing! The kit brought a blade to fight with, but the blade refused him! This is a curious sword…." He reached for it himself, but even before his hand touched the scabbard it emitted the same rejecting force, and Manten hurriedly withdrew his stricken member. "Hooo…." He turned back to Shippô, who was picking himself up off the ground and staring in shock. "Say, brat, what gives? Where did you get this thing from, anyway…?"

As he menacingly approached the demon child, an arrow suddenly flew in from the left, piercing the lightning demon rather cartoonishly right through its prominent beastlike nose. Shippô turned, still overcome with shock, to Kagome, who was rather taken aback herself. "It…it hit…" the girl muttered to herself.

As Manten turned to her, she recovered and quickly knocked another arrow. "Don't move!" she threatened him. "The next one is going right through your head!"

8-8-8

And how was Inuyasha faring in the meantime?

"Hey!" he barked at the passerby. "Stop running away! I'm telling you, take this charm off!"

"Yôkai fiend!" the peasant wailed as he fled.

And so….

"Don't move!" Kagome insisted again.

"My nose…" the demon whined.

Shippô stared in shock. "K-Kagome…."

"Shippô-chan, grab Tetsusaiga and hurry over here!" Kagome instructed the kitsune. "Hurry!"

Shippô moved to comply, but this larger action triggered Manten and woke him from his own lethargic shock brought on by pain, surprise, and Kagome's commanding demands. He focused on the fleeing child and leapt at him. "You little brat! You won't get away!"

"Give it up!" Shippô insisted, dodging deftly.

To Kagome's awakened magic sight, something glinted in Manten's, for lack of a better word, forehead. Some kind of magic jewel…? If I hit that…! She released her arrow.

The arrow struck Manten, but a little above the crystal. Darn! I only grazed him! She desperately knocked another arrow.

To her further surprise, however, the blow did stop Manten in his tracks. The blade of the arrow, in skimming his wide, round head, had shaved two of the demon's three precious hairs. Manten reached up to his head, his eyes striving to see on top of him and behold the damage, but they soon after focused on the two tiny pieces of hair that began to sway and float to the ground as they passed in front of his eyes. He began making strangling and gurgling noises.

"Eh?" Kagome marveled.

"MMMMYYYYY HAAAAAAIIIIIRRR!" Manten screamed, throwing his face towards the sky as he roared. Then he turned his gaze back on Kagome. "How…dare…you…." Energy began to build inside his mouth, casting light around him.

"Oh, no!" Shippô cried. "Run, Kagome! That's the attack that killed my ôto-san!" He grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her away as he explained this.

Nevertheless, it served no benefit. Manten opened his mouth wide, and an explosion of lightning issued forth. They managed to dodge the direct hit, but they were both thrown opposite directions by the ensuing explosion. Kagome hit the ground hard and lay still right next to the blackened crater. Shippô, less harmed by the attack, picked himself up and, an instant later, ran over to her. "Kagome!" he whispered. "Are you okay?"

Manten panted for a second to recover from the exertion of releasing that much power, then surveyed the scene of destruction. "Did I get them?" He moved through the tall grass until he came upon Kagome's still form. "Just the girl, huh?" He looked at her carefully. "Oh…she's…a pretty thing…." Chuckling to himself, he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. Then black clouds gathered around him, until they formed a kind of cushion he could sit on, and they took off into the air, carrying him with them.

Shippô, hiding nearby, stared after them. "Kagome…" he whispered. "She…tried to save me…and yet I…." He began to weep, but quickly stifled his tears and screwed up his face with determination. He turned back to the sword that was the cause of the whole incident and stared at it for several long seconds. "I can't do anything…but with this sword…he could…." He scooped up the weapon and hurried off.

8-8-8

Myôga strained at the paper, but pull as he might, it wouldn't budge. "It's no good, Inuyasha-sama," he confirmed. "I can't take this ward off."

"Damn that kitsune runt," Inuyasha growled.

"Hey!" Inuyasha glanced up in surprise as Shippô appeared, posturing arrogantly. "I might help you!" He hopped over to the dog-demon. "In exchange, promise you won't hit me!"

Inuyasha stared at the little demon carefully. He was still carrying the Tetsusaiga, but there was a significant missing presence he noticed. "Alone?" he demanded. "What happened to Kagome?"

"Do you promise or not?" Shippô insisted.

"I won't hit you, idiot," Inuyasha confirmed.

Shippô scooped the paper off the jizô and the statue magically minimized in size. Shippô, no longer seeming to carry the paper, took the tiny toy and began to toss it imperiously up and down in his hand. "Okay, calm down and listen…."

A moment later he was clutching his freshly-bruised head as Inuyasha returned the Tetsusaiga to its place at his side. "You promised you wouldn't hit me!" he whined accusingly.

"Right. So, about Kagome…?" Inuyasha pressed.

"This is no time to be acting calm! Kagome was carried off by the Raijû Kyôdai!"

"The Thunder Brothers? Aren't they your oyaji's enemies? You met?" He scooped Shippô up by his tail and stared him in the face. "Hmm…judging by your expression, you didn't manage to get revenge…." Inuyasha's own expression turned into an angry scowl. "You little brat…did you just sit and watch while Kagome was carried away!?"

"S-shut up!" Shippô riposted angrily. "Hurry up and go rescue her already! She's your woman, isn't she?"

Inuyasha stared at Shippô in shock. Then he angrily began to grind the kit's face into the dirt. "It's not like that!" he insisted. He let go stood up, and turned around, slipping his hands into the sleeve opposite as Shippô began to pick himself up. "However…I'm not unwilling to save her." Glancing over his shoulder at the boy, he demanded, "Prostrate yourself. Do that, and I'll forgive you for everything you've done."

"W-wha…!?" Shippô's own hackles began to rise.

Myôga hopped onto his shoulder. "Shippô. Just this once, ask for his favor as he demands. In a situation like this, it's you who must show maturity…if you do…."

The thought of humbling himself to this short-tempered, childish, violent bully of a hanyô was humiliating. W-why do I have to go this far…!? He thought of Manten carrying Kagome off. But…I can't save her by myself….

"Crap." He dropped his hands to the ground and bowed his face. "Please help me," he asked, but without much feeling. Silence greeted him. He raised his head in confusion. Inuyasha was already heading the direction Shippô had just come from. He turned back to look at the boy. "What are you groveling for? Let's go."

Shippô stared just a moment longer before jumping to his feet and hurrying after the hanyô.

8-8-8

Inside the Thunder Brothers' fort near the top of a great mountain, Kagome finally bean to stir.

Her eyes blinked open and she slowly, carefully rose. She was lying on some kind of wooden slab, right in front of a large, open window, which was currently at her back. Next to her, lying partially across the slab, was a butcher knife as large as she was. Across the room Manten, with the arrow still sticking ridiculously through his nose, was stirring a bubbling cauldron.

He sensed Kagome rising and half-turned to look at her. "Hmm? You're awake, huh?"

"T-this is…" Kagome murmured, staring at the cauldron. Her assumptions, rather than frightening her, angered her. "Hey, are you going to eat me?"

"Not that," Manten denied easily. "I've heard that the flesh of cute girls is good for the hair. I'm going to boil you down and rub you on my head," he informed her proudly.

Kagome was quite taken aback by this information. "I'd rather be eaten than be turned into hair tonic!" she raged.

"Shh!" Manten shushed her desperately. "Don't shout! If Hiten-an-chan hears you, you really will be eaten…."

"What's this? Have you come back, Manten?"

A door was pushed aside and…a much more human-looking figure entered. Two of them, in fact. The first figure was tall, thin compared to his brother, with dark skin, long braided black hair, fine and pleasant features, but sharp teeth and ears, dressed in rough clothing, a black tunic and red upper armor with baggy black trousers and blue sash. One arm was thrown around the shoulders of his companion, who also looked human, but female, with beautiful long black hair and perfect pearly skin. Other than some jewelry and the snake that wrapped around one shoulder and between her breasts, she wasn't wearing anything at all.

Kagome stared at the seeming young man. "Oh?" she muttered, mostly to herself. "You brothers really don't look very alike, do you?"

"Eh…Hiten-an-chan…" Manten muttered gravely.

Hiten's gaze finally fell on Kagome. "Huh? What's with the girl?"

Kagome's own thoughts were racing as she considered the man. This one looks more human, like Inuyasha and Kenjirô. Perhaps I can reason with him….

Manten jumped protectively in front of Kagome. "T-this one's my spoils!" he insisted.

Hiten laughed. "Don't worry, I won't take her." He turned to his companion. "After all, you are a far more alluring woman, aren't you?"

The woman chuckled. Hiten turned his gaze back to Kagome. "Although something about that girl seems familiar somehow. Where did you find her?"

"Hmm? Oh, just down in the marsh…with the fox-kid…that had the sword…."

Hiten stared. "What? What fox-kid? What sword?"

Manten seemed taken aback by something. "Wait a minute…I think that fox-brat had the sword that Kalovus was talking about…."

"That sword…you idiot!" Hiten's face flashed from a friendly smile to a rage-filled glare in an instant, and the intensity of it took Kagome aback…although it was nothing compared to the shock she received when he punctuated his anger by smashing his fist literally through the face of his lady-friend, killing her instantly. "You just let it get away because you were more dazzled by the girl than the sword! If its power really is comparable to the Shapesphere, we'd be unstoppable!"

Kagome stared in horror. W-wait a minute…this guy is…even more dangerous….

"Nothing for it," Hiten sighed, his choleric temper fleeing as quickly as it had come. "We'll just have to go after it now. A kitsune brat has it, you say?"

"Eh? We're going right after it now?" Manten demanded.

"Of course. Let's go, Manten." The more human yôkai headed for the door.

Kagome observed the pair carefully. I've been forgotten. A chance to escape….

But in a moment Manten was next to her, scooping up the cleaver and bringing it down at her. She managed to dodge aside with a small scream, then flared to anger again. "Hey, what are you doing!?" she demanded furiously.

"What do you mean?" Manten replied. "I'm going to kill you so you can't escape, of course. You're going to become my precious hair medicine, after all."

As Kagome fought for a reply, Hiten suddenly interjected, "Hold a minute, Manten."

As Manten looked back in surprise, his brother approached and considered Kagome more carefully. "I thought I recognized her. Kalovus said the sword was being carried by a dog-demon hanyô, accompanied by the woman. I don't know how the sword came into a kitsune's hands, but that doesn't matter right now. You're her, aren't you? The woman who can unseal the lands of power."

Kagome stared in surprise. What…? That's…how that centipede saw me, too…are these two related to that incident, somehow…?

"Eh? Hiten-an-chan, she is…?"

"You didn't totally mess up, Manten," Hiten informed him. "We've got the one prize right here. If Takamori's power is released for our benefit, the weapons will be just playthings after all…but I'd like them all, if possible."

"Ah…but didn't we promise Kalovus…?"

"Why should we keep any kind of a deal with a stinking human?" his brother said scathingly. "In any case, we can't kill her yet. I'll just shock her enough to make her unconscious until we come back…."

As he raised his hand, electricity crackling over it visibly, Kagome suddenly burst out, "W-wait! If you're going after Inuyasha and Tetsusaiga, you've got to take me with you!"

"What?" Manten demanded.

"Oh?" his brother added. "And why is that?"

"W-well…" Kagome continued, thinking quickly. "You'll lose the chance to unlock Tetsusaiga's true power!"

The two stared at her, suitably captivated. "Tetsusaiga has a seal on it—those who don't know the secret can't touch it. Manten knows—when he did try to grab the sword before, it rejected him."

"Is she telling the truth, Manten?" Hiten demanded.

"Er…yes, she is…the kitsune brat tried to draw it but was repulsed, and it stopped me from even touching it…."

Hiten turned back to Kagome. "So what's the secret then? How can we get past the sword's barrier?"

"I don't know," Kagome insisted. "Only Inuyasha, the true master of Tetsusaiga, knows. And that's why you need me."

"Do go on," Hiten insisted.

All right, I've got their full attention! I can do this! "Yes, you see…Inuyasha will never tell you what the secret is, unless you have something that's even more precious. And that would be me. You see...Inuyasha is completely in love with me! If you threatened my life, he would be willing to hand over the Tetsusaiga and reveal its secret in order to save me…."

"Hiten-an-chan! She's obviously lying!" Manten whined.

"I don't know…it might be true," Hiten replied. "At least the part about the sword's seal is true, and if it's the dog-demon hanyô Inuyasha, I have heard tales about him reappearing with that yôkai_-slaying sword. Wouldn't you like to have that for yourself, Manten?"

"But don't we need this girl, too? Why should we exchange her for the sword?"

"You idiot, we won't have to exchange her. Once Inuyasha gives up the sword and its secret, we'll kill him and take them both."

"Oh! Hiten-an-chan, you're brilliant!"

Hook, line, and sinker, Kagome thought. Now we just have to meet up….

Hiten suddenly grabbed Kagome's chin and pulled her in until their faces were mere breaths apart. "But if I find out you've been lying to me," Hiten breathed with fervent and eager threat in his voice, "I'll make you think this girl had it easy when I rearranged her face."

"R-right…." This guy…is serious!

8-8-8

"There it is…." Shippô pointed. "The mountain where the Raijû Kyôdai live."

"What's the matter, Shippô?" Inuyasha asked the yôkai, who was riding his shoulder. "You sound upset. If you're scared, you can go back.

"B-baka! I'm gonna get revenge for my ôto!" He stared at Inuyasha. "What about you? Are you really strong? The Thunder Brothers have powers given to them by somebody strange, and in addition, they now have the Shapesphere!"

"Besides that, I'm worried about Kagome's safety," muttered Myôga from Inuyasha's other shoulder.

"Hmm?" Inuyasha scoffed. "She'll be fine, I bet. She's surprisingly stubborn and headstrong, you know. Tougher than she looks, even if that's not saying much."

"Yes," Myôga continued, "but…those Thunder Brothers…the rumor is that they when they capture attractive human women, they eat them immediately…."

"R-really!?" shrieked Shippô, newfound panic and guilt arising within him. "What'll we do…in that case, she might already be…."

Inuyasha scoffed again. "You idiot, weren't you listening? He said attractive human women. Not Kagome. She doesn't have anything to be worried about."

"Huh? Don't your eyes work?" Shippô shot back. "Of course she'd be in danger!"

"Well, I also think that Kagome is a rather attractive young woman," Myôga agreed.

"Ahh!" Shippô moaned, rubbing his head with both hands in frustration. "She's probably already been gobbled up! It's all my fault!"

"Ahh! Shut up already!" Inuyasha roared, throwing his passengers off.

Suddenly there was a rumble above them. Inuyasha glanced up just in time to be able to dodge aside as a bolt of lightning sheared down next to him. In the air above him, he saw a humanoid figure standing in the air, flying on flaming wheels that hovered magically just inches from his ankles. In Hiten's hand was a weapon that seemed to be a spear with an additional L-shaped blade emerging from the shaft just underneath the point.

"So, you're the hanyô scum called Inuyasha?" demanded Hiten.

"How troublesome," Myôga informed Inuyasha. "That is Hiten, the elder Raijû. This could be bad!"

Shippô climbed atop Inuyasha and hoisted himself up to peer over the top of his head, clinging to his long white hair as if it was reins. "H-hey!" the tyke insisted. "What happened to Kagome!?"

"Heh. Don't worry. I haven't eaten a single finger yet. Manten."

Manten approached, riding his black clouds. "Yoo-hoo!" he called. Sitting in front of him, her shoulder gripped by his meaty paw, was Kagome.

"Inuyasha!" she cried in half-fear half-delight.

"Kagome!" She's alive…. And, despite his previous protests, the weight of doubt and fear was lifted by the power of assurance.

"Heh," Hiten chuckled. "Looking at your face, I guess the girl's story is true. So, if you want to save the life of your beloved woman, hand over your sword Tetsusaiga, and tell me the secret of how to wield it!"

Inuyasha stared, completely taken aback by this announcement. Kagome sweat-dropped as she anticipated the impending collapse of her story.

"Belo…? Who's this 'beloved woman'!?" Inuyasha demanded, rather angrily.

"D-darling…" Kagome called back, pleading in her voice. "What are you being so shy for…?"

"So the wench lied after all…" Manten murmured, glaring at the girl, who tucked her hands by her chin and attempted to look disarming and helpless.

"Heh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "Why would I give up my sword for someone like you!?"

Kagome knew that she had pushed past the limits of their relationship with her story, but his decisive and final refusal tipped her anger again. "What's with you!? Are you that ready to just cast me aside!?"

"Cast you aside!?" Inuyasha retorted. "What the hell are you saying!? You make it sound like we're some sort of loving couple!"

"Well, so only the part about Inuyasha being master of the sword was true," Hiten remarked calmly. "Whatever." He pointed his spear at Inuyasha. "That just means I'll have to force you to give up its secret!"

"You really think you can!?" Inuyasha roared, drawing his blade.

"Impressive sword or not, you're only a hanyô. You're less than half a demon!"

Hiten dove at Inuyasha. The red-robed dog-demon caught the attack and strained against his opponent. "I'll remember those half-demon comments," he breathed. "Hearing them always makes it all the more fun to kill you!"

"In your dreams!" Hiten taunted, releasing a blast of energy that threw Inuyasha away. He pointed his spear at the dog-demon, and a blast of electricity surged out towards Inuyasha.

"Kaze no Kizu!" he howled, bringing his sword down. The wind raced out and met the lightning, and the two forces strained together. Then the wind buckled and vanished, and the lightning continued on, impacting the stunned Inuyasha and throwing him further backwards.

"Not a bad sword," Hiten droned. "That was a pretty powerful attack. But my powers combined with this 'Shapesphere' simply dwarf yours. You don't have a chance!"

"As I thought," Myôga muttered. "That spear is the Shapesphere, formed in a weapon of Hiten's taste. As long as he has that, he might very well be unstoppable…."

"Well, do have any advice?" Inuyasha grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Hmm, well, running away would be ideal," Myôga replied. "I'm going to demonstrate that sage advice. Best of luck!" And despite Inuyasha's protests, the little flea hopped away and vanished.

Tch. Inuyasha readied himself as Hiten prepared to come in again. That spear really is something…this is gonna be a bit difficult….

"Looks like I'm gonna have some fun with you," Hiten boasted, sending more lightning Inuyasha's way. "Seems like you're worth some entertainment to me!"

"Ha! There isn't anyone who's spoken like that to me, or who's fought me, and come away entertained!" Inuyasha knocked away the lightning.

"Excellent! Let's get serious!"

Shippô watched the battle raging back and forth as he crawled up a rocky mound. "Inuyasha, I'll leave Hiten to you," he muttered. He glanced up.

The target of his aim, or targets, both of them, sat on the cloud watching the battle. As Kagome fretted for her hanyô companion, Manten chortled. "Hya hahaha! Go for it, Hiten-an-chan! I'll back you up!" So saying, he opened wide his mouth, and the energy began to build within.

"Hey, you can't attack him too! That's unfair!" Kagome insisted, and, calling on the power of her contract, she shoved the yôkai…sending him sprawling from the cloud and to the rocky terrain below, where he impacted, hard. His lightning discharged at the same time, making a nice explosive effect at his point of impact. "Got him!" Kagome enthused.

Her victory was short-lived, however, for, without Manten to maintain it, the cloud dissipated, leaving Kagome in the air with no perch. She screamed as she fell, but a corner of her mind berated Kain for never teaching her a flying spell.

Hiten and Inuyasha had stopped their battle and turned to stare at the sound of Manten's misfortune, and Inuyasha saw Kagome's plight. "Kagome!" he cried, and moved to catch her fall.

Hiten cut off his retreat, however. "This isn't the time to be worrying about girls, you know!"

"Kagome! Hang on!" Inuyasha pleaded desperately.

"Hang on to what!?" Kagome managed, and immediately after, she landed…right on top of Manten's still form. He actually made a nice enough cushion to prevent Kagome from being injured by the fall (quite probably along with the energy of the contract flowing through her).

"Saved!" she remarked happily as she stood, but again her emotions quickly changed as Manten rose up angrily behind her.

"You wench…" he growled.

"Kyaa! He's alive!"

Suddenly Shippô burst into view, throwing an object at the Raijû. "Kitsune-yôjutsu (Fox Demon Magic)! Spitting Top!"

The green top fell perfectly atop Manten's head, bringing him up short. As he tried once again to look at a place beyond his eyes, the top grew to enormous size and began to spin at high speed, driving Manten to the dirt as it worked on him like a massive drill.

"Kagome! Get over here, quick!" Shippô called.

"Shippô-chan!" Kagome hurried out of the crater and over to the boy, and continued following him as he began to hurry away. "That's an amazing move you've got!" she congratulated him.

"Heh, it's nothing," Shippô said modestly.

"It's too early to relax yet," Myôga insisted, hopping into view in front of Kagome. "Kitsune-yôjutsu is phony after all."

"Huh? Oh, you mean it's…."

"Yes…merely an illusion."

Manten was nonetheless crying in pain, but then the top stopped and returned to being normal size. Manten sat up, confused. "That kitsune brat," he muttered. He was unharmed…except for the last strand of hair that fell from his head.

An explosion of lightning accompanied Manten's anger, and streaks of lightning raged around them as the pair fled his wrath. "S-seems we threw gas on the fire!" Kagome gasped as Myôga once again vanished to safety.

"Where are they!?" Manten roared as he stormed out of the hill and the pair ducked behind a tree.

Kagome sat fearfully, more afraid than she had been in a long time. If he finds us, we're dead. Mai…Momo…Kain…where are you now? Inuyasha's fighting for his life with Hiten, and I never was able to learn how to fight for myself….

She slapped her cheeks. No…I have to fend for myself now. I can't rely them now. I can…. She glanced back at the desperately searching yôkai. There he was, with that arrow still sticking ridiculously in his face…. That's it! That arrow…I can use it again! "Hey, Shippô-chan…."

Manten heard a sound. "Over there, huh!?" He released a blast of thunder at the offending sound. The smoke cleared, and there was Kagome's corpse, still on the ground. "Heh. Wench…thought she could get away from me, huh?" He stomped over and grabbed her by the hair, hauling her up and staring at her. Suddenly she opened her eyes and glared at him.

"You bald, ugly bastard," she said, but it wasn't her voice. Manten was taken aback…and utterly flummoxed when her hair suddenly began to grapple his arms like clinging vines. "Is this hair what you wanted?"

Kagome suddenly came running in from the side, surprising Manten further. "T-there's two of you!?"

Kagome (the real one) laid hold of the arrow. "I'll take that back!" she declared, pulling it from his nose.

"You kitsune bastard…" Manten growled, realizing the trick.

"Heh," the fake Kagome replied. "I'll take revenge on my ôto's enemy!"

"Shippô-chan, keep him restrained like that!" Kagome insisted, taking up the arrow in both hands and raising it above her head. If I can pierce that gem in his forehead…I'll cut a large portion of his power off! And I think…he might be done in by the backlash!

"Damn you!" Manten roared, throwing his hands out, breaking Shippô's hair-grip (and returning him to his true form) and knocking Kagome to the ground. He reached down and grabbed Kagome by the throat before she could recover. "Hya haha! I'll strangle you to death!"

I-Inuyasha….

And on cue, the desperately-fighting hero saw the girl's plight. "Kagome!"

But the scene was merely a distraction in his case, and the point of Hiten's lightning-shaped spear pierced Inuyasha's shoulder.

"What the hell are you looking away for!?" Hiten scolding, slashing upward.

Inuyasha was thrown back as his shoulder was cut open, and the Tetsusaiga flew from his grasp. It stuck point-first into the ground a dozen feet away, and hissed as it reverted to its thin, dull-edged form. He glanced over at it, but before he could move, the point of Hiten's spear was at his face. "Ah, well…you're all talk. I had hoped to have a lot more fun. I don't even know if it's worth worrying about your sword now. Shall I just take time to tear off, say, your hands and feet?"

Too many damn distractions, Inuyasha growled to himself. I guess I better sort out Kagome first….

"Hey, Manten!" Hiten called to his brother, oblivious to Inuyasha's musings. "Don't go too far! We need that girl alive! She might be of more use than this coward of a hanyô and his dull sword!"

"Ah, right! Sorry, Hiten-an-chan! I just can't help it, you know…it's great, isn't it? The face of a dying girl…."

Shippô began to stir and rose in time to hear this declaration from Manten. "Stop it!" he cried, throwing himself futilely at the larger yôkai.

Manten batted him aside, laughing. "Mortifying, isn't it, you little kitsune runt!? Once I'm done with this girl, you're next…maybe I'll skin your pelt like I did your oyaji. Maybe I can make you into a hood or something…."

Shippô burned with rage. "You monster!" He leapt onto him and sunk his teeth into Manten's thick throat.

Naturally, Shippô's tiny yôkai fangs meant little to the massive thunder demon. He simply laughed again and grab Shippô's head with his other hand. "Stupid brat…I'll crush your skull in my fist…."

I won't let go…even if I die…!

"Jeez," Inuyasha sighed. "I never claimed to be a nice guy, but somehow you bastards disgust the hell out of me…."

He raised his blood-soaked fingers and flung the blood at Hiten. "Hijin Ketsusô!" The blood shaped into cutting blades en route to Hiten's face.

"Blades of blood!?" Hiten dodged back, leaving Inuyasha free.

Inuyasha leapt to his sword and grabbed it by the hilt.

Hiten laughed and charged in. "This is fun! Fight even harder to live, if you can!"

Inuyasha scooped the sword up which transformed instantly. "Take this!" He threw the blade towards his onrushing opponent.

It went right past Hiten, however. "Fool! What are you throwing at!?"

"Exactly what I was aiming at!" Inuyasha shot back.

"What?"

And, as Manten crowed with delight over Shippô's shrinking strength, he stopped suddenly…as Tetsusaiga ran him perfectly through.

Got him!

"M-Manten!"

Kagome stared as Tetsusaiga withdrew its form. I've got to get it back to Inuyasha…. She took hold of the sword with one hand and scooped the half-conscious Shippô up with her other.

"Ôto…" Shippô murmured.

Kagome glanced down at Manten's belt. That's right…Shippô-chan's ôto-san's pelt, too….

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled. "Get out of there, you idiot!"

"Manten!" Hiten screamed with equal vigor.

Kagome was struggling with an armful of Shippô, pelt, and sword when Hiten arrived. A blast of his lightning threw her and her load away.

"Kagome!"

Inuyasha rushed to Kagome's side. She glanced up at him through a haze of pain. "Inuyasha…" she murmured. "I got it…." She feebly attempted to lift the sword up to him.

"You idiot," Inuyasha growled. "That doesn't mean anything if you get yourself killed…."

"Manten…" Hiten murmured. "How pitiful…."

"He's…crying…" Kagome observed, struggling to sit up.

His next action truly shocked her. He drove his hands into the body of his sibling and pulled out his bloody heart. "This…is so you can stay with I-chan forever…." And then he devoured it.

"W-what?" Kagome gasped.

"He's eating his spiritual power!"

"Myôga-jii-chan…."

"That means that darn Hiten will gain all of Manten's power for himself!" the flea continued. "Be careful, Inuyasha-sama…."

"Where have you been up to now?" Inuyasha accused him.

"Running away to safety, of course," Kagome muttered.

"E-eh…always grumbling over minor things…."

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and Shippô and leapt to safety as an explosion of lightning engulfed their perch. "Any ideas of how to deal with this now?" he demanded of the flea.

"W-well, maybe if you could use the Bakuryûha (Backlash Wave), the Tetsusaiga's ôgi, you could overwhelm his power, but otherwise…."

"Bakuryûha? What's that?"

"Just as I said, it's the Testusaiga's ôgi, or ultimate attack. It takes an opponent's yôki attack and wraps it in your own yôki along with a Kaze no Kizu and sends it back…."

"Great…so how do I use it?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Er…well…."

"You don't know, of course."

Inuyasha set his charges down behind some cover. "Stay here. I'll take care of this."

"But, Inuyasha…" Kagome began.

"Just shut up. I'll be okay somehow. You've done enough."

Inuyasha emerged from cover and raised his sword to face Hiten.

"So, you've finally come out," the demon growled. "Ready to die, hanyô?"

"Not today. Not before you! Kaze no Kizu!"

Hiten dodged the wind by flying into the air.

Kagome stared at the battle as Shippô finally began to stir. He stared at the bed he'd been carefully laid in. "Ôto…" he murmured.

"Inuyasha avenged your father," Kagome explained. She turned her attention back to the battle. If only I could do something….

"What's going on now?"

"Inuyasha's fighting Hiten. He…devoured his brother's heart, and his spiritual power. Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga might not be strong enough to beat him now. If only I could help…." She watched Hiten fly in the air on his wheels of flame, giving him the agility to dodge all of Inuyasha's attacks, even the Kaze no Kizu. "If he couldn't fly, Inuyasha could get him…."

She glanced down. Somehow she had managed to bring that one arrow back with her as well. "If only I had a bow…."

"Leave it to me!" Shippo insisted, and put a leaf to his head. He then transformed into….

"Oh!" Kagome stared at the curvy, curly item. "…A snail?"

"…I'm a bow…."

"Still breathing, hanyô!?" Hiten roared. "What's the matter!? Your movements are growing sloppier!"

"Shut up!" Dammit…he's powerful, but I could get him if only he wasn't flying around like that.

Kagome aimed the odd-shaped bow. She released. Please, hit it!

The arrow struck Hiten's right wheel, shattering it. His flight suddenly wobbled. "What!?" He glanced across at Kagome. "You!" He opened his mouth.

Manten's attack! "Kaze no Kizu!"

Inuyasha's attack wasn't in time…it threw Hiten back, but not before his lightning breath raced out….

But then a blue-green flame swept over the lightning, ending it, and continued flowing, filling the battlefield with an eerie, ghostly light.

"This is…?"

"Kitsune bi…my father's…" Shippô muttered.

"The last spirit of the elder kitsune is protecting them," Myôga agreed.

Hiten picked himself up, his attention on the foxfire only briefly before turning back to Inuyasha. "What's this? Even needing help from the dead? I'll finish you, then get all of them, despite your petty tricks!" He opened his mouth and began to charge the spear at the same time.

Myôga began to panic again. "Inuyasha-sama won't be able to block both attacks at once! It's too much power!"

Inuyasha was feeling the same conclusion, but suddenly the scent of the wind changed. What's this…? The foxfire…it's…showing me something. He glanced at the building sources of power around Hiten. Hiten's lightning…there's a wound in the wind of his yôki…. Is the foxfire telling me to cut that…?

Hiten's attacks fired. Inuyasha leapt into the attack, heeding the pair of voices instructing him. "Bakuryûha!"

The Tetsusaiga cleaved through the oncoming lightning, dispersing it into a whirlpool of energy. At nearly the same instant, the whirlpools were swept up by the wind of the Tetsusaiga, creating a massive stream of tornados that raced back towards Hiten, who could do nothing but take them all head-on.

When the wind faded, Hiten struggled to his feet…still alive and kicking, if moving glacially. "What!?" Inuyasha cried in shock. "He took my attack combined with his own!?"

"It's the Shapesphere," Myôga moaned. "It was able to absorb some of the damage…at least enough to save his life…."

"I…won't…die…at least…until I avenge…Manten!" Hiten swore.

"Oh, give it up already, you useless fool."

A burst of red light flew through Hiten's chest in accompaniment with this new voice. Hiten staggered and glanced behind him. "W-what…? You…!"

Hiten hit the ground and turned to dust. A red-cloaked man strode forward and scooped up the spear before it hit the ground, and as he held it before him, it transformed into a silvery ball, two inches in diameter. "How useless," he murmured. "I thought you could at least get rid of the annoying hanyô for me if you borrowed the Shapesphere, but you couldn't even manage that. Relying on the yôkai of this world was a foolish mistake on my part…."

"Bastard! Who are you!?" Inuyasha demanded, readying Tetsusaiga.

"Ah, ah, ah!" The man held up a restraining hand. "That won't do any good in your condition. I'm not here to fight today…you've already taken my best in the chin. I'll have to make other preparations, but for now, it's time to leave with my toy…."

"That's not yours!" Shippô insisted angrily. "The Shapesphere was entrusted to my father! Give it back!"

"Give it back? To a little yôkai? No, no, no…this will serve much more use in the hands of the Obsidian Star."

"The Obsidian Star?" Inuyasha's eyes flashed. "You…you're the one behind everything!"

The man turned back to Inuyasha and laughed. "That's right…I've been toying with you a long time, Inuyasha-kun. Shall I send you after your beloved Kikyo…?"

"Kaze no Kizu!"

The wind attack swept over the man…but he was no longer there. "Take it easy, my dear half-demon. We'll have plenty of time to play later…I, Kalovus, will come for you soon enough…."

Inuyasha stared after him for several moments before finally sheathing the Tetsusaiga. "Kalovus, huh? Finally I have a name and a face to attach to my enemy…the one I will kill with my own hands…."

8-8-8

Shippô stepped back from the memorial they had built to his father. "Ôto…we were able to avenge you, even if we weren't able to get the Shapesphere back…."

Kagome held her card in her hand and glanced down at it. The Tenseiga….

"The Tenseiga is a powerful healing sword," Kamolai explained. "It doesn't cut minions of this world, although it will actually be a powerful weapon against those not of this world, meaning this existence—in other words, undead.

"But Tenseiga was created to be a sword that could save the lives of a hundred souls with a single swing. If you master it and its power, you'll hold that ability in your hand."

"Save lives?" Kagome asked. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"The Tenseiga even has power to bring back the dead by cutting down the harbingers of the netherworld. Of course, as always, restoring life to the dead has limitations. They have to be recently dead, their spirits still in this world, but it will strike down all the harbingers and even restore a cut chain of fate if the spirit is still present."

"I see…but only recently dead, right…?"

Kagome's mind returned to the present. But Shippô's father's spirit is gone…the last of its power was used to save us all with the foxfire….

I wish I could save a hundred lives…it's just like with Kain-sensei's village…I want to save everyone that I can…but…I guess even I have to learn to live with what I can't do….

But what I can do….

"So what are you going to do now, Shippô-chan?" Kagome asked the young kitsune.

"Eh? Ah, well…the Thunder Brothers are gone, but my family's legacy is now in the hands of villains…."

"In that case, you better come with us," Inuyasha grumped. "Can't leave a job half-done, can we?"

Shippô and Kagome both stared at the hanyô in surprise. "Inuyasha?" the girl asked, surprised and silently delighted.

"Well…" Shippô finally responded. "I suppose I might as well. Since it looks you'll be getting into a lot of trouble with that guy Kalovus or whatever. Kagome could use a real yôkai for protection, too so she doesn't have to just rely on Inuyasha…."

"Oi, don't push it, squirt…" Inuyasha growled threateningly.

"Okay, okay…" Kagome sighed, getting between them. "It'll be good to have you with us, Shippô-chan. And as for you, Inuyasha…." He blanched as she turned her full attention on him, inspecting him closely, but was surprised when she continued, "You're still hurt, aren't you?"

"H-huh? What? Bah, I'm no weak human. My robe of the firerat is as good as armor, you know, and it stopped most of the damage. This'll heal in a few days…."

"But we might never know when we'll get attacked again," Kagome sighed. "I know I haven't been a lot of help so far, but I'm going to start doing all I can…I have to. So for starters…." She raised her card and manifested her artifact.

Inuyasha staggered back in surprise as Kagome was suddenly holding a long but rather worn-looking blade. Myôga yelped in shock at the sight of the weapon. "T-that's…!"

"Restore, Tenseiga," Kagome commanded her blade, and the healing light washed over Inuyasha.

He started as his wounds closed, leaving him in sound and perfect health. He inspected himself and patted his former wounds. "Well, I'll be…."

Myôga hopped over to Kagome. "Kagome…where did you get that sword!?"

"Something the matter, Myôga-jiiji?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Don't you recognize it, Inuyasha-sama? That's…."

"Tenseiga," Kagome said evenly. "The fang of the Inu no Taishô. That's right…Kamolai told me that, too…."

"Yes, Tetsusaiga's twin," Myôga muttered. "That was a contract card wasn't it…yes…."

"Wait…so that's my oyaji's sword, too?" Inuyasha said. "How'd Kagome end up with it?"

"I see, I see," Myôga muttered. "Kagome made a contract with an Archmage, almost certainly through a magical spirit…probably her teacher, Kain Lockeheart-sensei, yes? Well, well…."

"In any case," Kagome said, causing her artifact to return, "we should get going…right Shippô-chan? Inuyasha?"

They stopped off again, with the usually taciturn Inuyasha suddenly demanding questions of Kagome. Myôga was in deep thought. Kagome…of the family of priestesses of Takamori…received, for an artifact, the Tenseiga, and then met the son of the Inu no Taishô and was the instrument of his release? Is this…coincidence…?

8-8-8

Author's Note: Character Introduction: Shippô

Ho-ha! For you readers, no time has (likely) passed through these last few chapters, but for me, writing this, I've been slogging through various things as I've attempted to continue the story. No need to relate them here, but it feels good to complete this chapter and get further along in the story.

This chapter, again, was largely an adaptation of an existing manga story, namely Inuyasha's introduction of the kitsune kit, Shippô. The Thunder Brothers (Raijû Kyôdai, perhaps more literally Thunder Beast Brothers) are the antagonists who killed Shippô's father, but I messed around with little details this time rather than big ones. The actual items of conflict here (and in most of the series) are the fragments of the Shikkon no Tama, making it the source of both the Thunder Brothers' power and Shippô's theft attempts; so, to adjust, I introduced the Shapesphere (which will have its own significant purpose down the line), had it be Hiten's spear, and had Shippô be after the Tetsusaiga for the instrument of his revenge (which conveniently allowed me to introduce the Tetsusaiga's anti-demon barrier, which was supposed to be introduced with the actual Tetsusaiga but which my introduction lacked). Then I adjusted other little things, including plugging the brothers in as Kalovus' patsies. Most significantly, I super sped up Inuyasha's development of Tetsusaiga's powers, which initially took forever for him to learn. He didn't to even use the Kaze no Kizu (his iconic Wind Scar) until his third confrontation with Sesshomaru, and then had to break his weapon and rebuild it and use it ineffectively for several small arcs before he mastered it and learned the so-called 'ôgi' Bakuryûha. Then, of course, he started the ages-long process of absorbing new powers for the Tetsusaiga to defeat Naraku, then having Naraku adapt to those powers, leaving him searching for another new technique to one-up the villain…. In any case, for most of the series, particularly the anime, he had these two attacks, so I allowed Inuyasha to master the signature attack during the off-screen time between chapters, and then learn the ultimate attack (what will likely be its ultimate attack for the purposes of this story, since it's not his story) at the end of this chapter. I was planning to bring in a couple of other characters this chapter, but decided to leave them for the final confrontation with the villain of this 'arc' in the next Inuyasha/Kagome chapter. And, no, those two other characters are not the remaining two Inuyasha mainstays, Miroku and Sango, as, while I love those two characters, they are a bit too 'big' in backstory and purpose to introduce as side character's side characters—they'd have to be so watered down they'd be unrecognizable, hardly befitting their value, so it's better not to waste time or space introducing them at all (one of the reasons I'm not using Amelia from Slayers, either—too big to fit into what I've got, too small and without significant parts to be necessary).

On the other hand, Shippô was an easy choice to use for an additional character and mid-plot story of the three-chapter 'arc' for Kagome and Inuyasha's journey through Arcanus Myrror, as, despite being one of the big five, he's a useless but endearing (and, yes, often rather annoying) mascot who can sit and add commentary but has little to worry about, especially since his father is avenged. His connection to the Shapesphere makes him more-or-less significant, but not overly so.

_So, here is Shippô, the young kitsune. He's rather simple and is the party's universal little brother and Inuyasha's primary cute but useless mascot (it has, actually, several, of varying degrees). He has some illusory magic—in Japanese mythology, foxes are notorious tricksters, and so, like in most of their tales, fox demons become masters of deceptive arts—but no actual combat power. Despite this, and despite his being young and childish, he feels (as a true demon) quite superior to Inuyasha and antagonizes him frequently. Shippô, being so childish, never forgives or forgets Inuyasha's abuse from early on, even if he deserved it, and so he takes every opportunity to berate him and even to use his magic against him if he has a good enough excuse (the girlfriend du jour, a parasitic pest controlling him, or a fox-magic examination). Nevertheless, he is a loyal and dedicated little companion, and he will, among other things, help keep Kagome sane through all this madness. He will obviously be popular with the class when all are reunited….

So, with Kagome's second part complete, we now return to Nodoka for part 2 of 3 in the Fairy Tail, er, Tale….


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Six: The Giants

Delryn, Akari and Ami pelted at maximum speed away from the great creature as it rose up into the air. Once it had finally cleared its earthen prison and pulled itself fully onto its feet, it gave a roar that shook the heavens.

"W-what do we do about _that_?" Akari demanded in fright.

"Good question," Delryn muttered. "I'll get back to you on that. For now, _run_."

They moved at top speed from the monster, but such was its enormous stature that it seemed the action was futile, for they were still within easy striking distance of that great tail, and a few steps would be all it would take to crush them underfoot.

"W-what is that!?" Akari gasped as she ran.

"I think it's called a 'Tarax'," Delryn replied. "I thought it was a joke. Something like that…shouldn't exist…."

It also shouldn't have noticed them, but it swiveled its head their direction. Ami, glancing back behind her, saw the action, and also saw it rear its head slightly and then spit forth a bolt of fire right towards them. "Dodge!" she screamed in fright, and the three rolled aside. The ground in front of them burst into inferno, and they clung to the ground, letting the heat wash above them. When it swiftly faded, they raised their heads to stare at the creatures emerging from the remnants of the flame—miniature versions of the great beast behind them, although 'miniature' was rarely an adjective used to refer to monsters eight feet tall and well over half that wide.

The four creatures roared and charged in, and Akari and Delryn rose to meet them. Delryn raised his sword immediately and cried, "Strike first, _Raijin_ [Man of Thunder]!" A rather startling transformation took place—the sword's guard and hilt actually became less pronounced and elaborate, the blade lengthened a little but reduced its width, all in an instant, and he threw himself into the battle with a new, remarkable speed. Akari was rather taken aback…the only ones she had ever seen before with that kind of speed were her masters.

Even with Delryn's newfound speed, however, the battle was not going their way. Akari's wounded hand was now a serious hindrance, as she could only use her unmaimed limb against these foes and even her heaviest blows seemed to do little more than slow them down. Delryn was moving between his two foes easily, striking and moving long before they could attack him, but his attacks seemed equally futile against the foes.

Ami studied the beasts though her visor. She risked a glance back at the massive monster behind them, and was rather taken aback to see it almost squatting down, unmoving, watching its spawn battle the teenagers. _('Well, at least right now we don't have to worry about it attacking us….')_ She focused her attention on the threat before them, letting the Eye of Iris probe its capabilities….

"There—the weakest point in their armor seems to be just under the armpit of the left arm!"

Delryn nodded. "That'll do." He moved in and planted his blade in the indicated point on his right opponent, and his blade sunk easily into flesh this time. He left the sword inside, stepping around behind the creature, pivoting back, and pulling the blade free through its chest, opening a gaping wound in its torso. It fell to the earth, blackish, foul blood flowing freely, and Delryn dashed back as the surviving foe moved in to counterattack.

Ami's freezing spear attacks sailed across and slashed onto the fiend on Akari's left, freezing it in place. Akari stepped to flank the remaining one, landing three savage strikes in quick succession onto the designated weak point. As it fell to its knees, Akari leapt up and wrapped her legs around its neck and heaved, smashing it into the ground. Akari immediately leapt back as the frozen one burst from its icy prison, and she and Delryn collided back to back.

"Enough training here?" Akari said with a slight chuckle.

"Better than I hoped," Delryn replied, and prepared to charge again.

8-8-8

The _El-Hazard_ swooped in, heading towards the mountain-sized creature. "I have a bad feeling about this," Nanami noted. "Flying _towards_ the huge _aiju_ [huge Godzilla-like monster] is usually not the best idea, you know? Are Akari- _chan_ and Ami- _chan_ _really_ near here?"

"It is right on top of them," Rei insisted. "If it makes a move towards them, they will be crushed. It must be stopped immediately."

"That's all well and good," Nanami sighed, "but how are we going to stop it?" Nanami began to slow the _El-Hazard_ down as they came above the great creature.

To her surprise, Rei moved to an exit door on the side of the vessel, drawing forth her contract card. "My artifact…has only limited uses. But this is one occasion where its strength can be used." And to Nanami's further surprise, she opened the door and stepped out into the air.

Unconcerned with her long fall, Rei calmly intoned, "Launch." In a moment that lasted forever, Rei endured the most impressive transformation yet. Her own clothing changed into a tight, tactical white bodysuit, with two white nodes on her head. The digital outline of a pilot's seat appeared underneath her, and a gel-like liquid seemed to wash over her, filling a capsule-shaped space around her. Then the outlined seat was made manifest, and the translucent digital skeleton of a much larger capsule developed as Rei leaned forward, grasping a pair of control handles. In this manner a gigantic humanoid machine appeared around her, and it finished becoming wholly manifest by the time she landed on top of the Tarax, her massive robot sending the monster flying.

Rei's robot stood as the monster rolled away and tried to stop itself. A digital timer appeared in the air to the right of Rei's head, counting down. "Evangelion will only operate for five minutes at a time," Rei intoned quietly. "I shall need to finish this quickly."

8-8-8

As the last of the beasts before them fell, Delryn, Akari and Ami turned back to the massive beast…just in time to see the second monster fall atop it, sending it flying and shaking the earth with the activity. It was as tall as the monster itself, colored largely purple, and, contrary to most humanoid robots seen in science fiction entertainment, its limbs were long and thin, almost sinewy, and despite the metal plating, had an almost living quality to them. Two tall fins emerged from its shoulders, and its head carried a horn over its animalistic shape. As the massive beast it had sent flying rose, it opened a rather inhuman maw and let loose a great roar.

"W-what is _that_!?" Akari demanded. Because of her experience with the world she had been raised in, true shock and awe were things that she rarely felt; most of the magical world had merely been interesting to her, not threatening, and even the idea of dragons piqued her curiosity rather than her fears. These two warring _aiju_ , however, inflicted a truly great terror upon her.

Ami observed the newcomer through her visor…and started suddenly. "T-that's…Ayanami _-san_!"

"Eh!? Rei- _san_!? What's she doing in _that_ thing!?"

The Evangelion raised a hand, and a spiraling mass of red material appeared above its open grip. Then it twisted itself into a long spear-like object with a fork for a blade, and the hand closed over the weapon. As the Tarax came charging back in, Rei met the charge with the new spear. The blows forced the monster back, but it seemed to be resisting most of the damage. It breathed a blast of fire to stop the Evangelion's advances, then swung its tail to send it staggering backward.

Rei let herself fall back in response, then brought the spear up and threw it at the Tarax. The forks speared into its right shoulder, piercing through enough to let the fork-blades emerge their full length. As the beast tried to recover from this attack, Rei materialized another weapon, this time something more modern, and began to blast the Tarax with an assault rifle. As the gigantic rounds pummeled the creature, creating visible wounds but seemingly hardly slowing the creature, the Tarax slammed its left fist into the ground. The earth shook, and the Evangelion fell to one knee as the earth around it concaved. Then the robot staggered from a blast of fire that again issued from monster's mouth.

Just as Rei recovered from this attack, the Tarax was on her, wielding the spear that it had pulled from its shoulder. With a simple but mighty swing, it removed the Evangelion's right arm, causing it to drop the assault rifle.

Within the cockpit, Rei gave a small cry and her right arm fell limp. A determined visage overcame her as she immediately threw herself back into the fray. With the remaining arm Rei slapped the spear aside and then lashed out, punching the creature. For several long moments they wrestled, grabbing and exchanging inexpert giant punches.

Again within the cockpit, Rei spat out blood—subconsciously, she understood that she was sharing life force with her machine, but that thought was left in a corner of her mind as unimportant as she struggled with her foe. Finally she threw the monster down, stepped on its injured shoulder and, with her remaining arm, tore the beast's limb free.

"This is pretty intense," Delryn remarked as he watched. "…You said that was someone you know?"

"Yes," Akari replied, "one of our classmates."

"…What kind of school do you go to again?"

Ami's book was out, but she seemed to be operating it like a computer. Finally she flipped its pages and pulled the visor out of it. The Eye of Iris sprouted a microphone and she began to speak into it. "Ayanami- _san_ , this is Mizuno Ami. Can you read me?"

8-8-8

The Evangelion kicked away the monster and actually raised the limb it held back to its own missing socket. Sinews shot out, gripping the joint of the arm and fusing it in, giving the machine a makeshift replacement arm.

Within the machine Rei stretched out her arm again and took up her control. Seemingly ignoring this incredible phenomenon besides resuming her own full battle capabilities, she once again set her sights on the rising Tarax. Then an invisible speaker began to address her.

"This is Ayanami Rei. I read you, Mizuno Ami."

"Ayanami- _san_ , the weak point is the same as its spawn, located in its torso, just underneath the left arm! If you can strike there, you should be able to wound it fatally!

"I understand, Mizuno- _san_. I shall dispatch it immediately."

A brief glance informed her that she had thirty seconds to do so. A fin over her left arm popped open, extending a knife hilt. She grabbed the hilt and pulled it forth, and a blade extended and began to hum loudly as it vibrated at supersonic speeds. Armed with this deceptively small weapon, the Evangelion charged in, dodging the beast's tail strike and sinking the knife into the revealed weak point. Then she grabbed the hilt in both hands and slashed it across, ravaging the creature.

The monster fell to the earth and the Evangelion fell on top of it. It roared, thrashed and struck, but the machine held firm, cutting and leaning on the blade to push it in deeper. Finally the creature gave a final gasping scream, and fell still. An instant later, the counter to Rei's right fell to 0:00.00.

The monster began to decay quickly into a foul miasma, just as the Evangelion began to fade away, piece-by-piece, in a similar manner to that with which it had arrived…and so the unprotected Rei finally appeared in the air just above this terrible poison.

As Rei fell, Delryn came streaking through the air, catching Rei and falling safely on the far side of the remnants. Ami and Akari came hurrying over as well.

Rei looked over the group with her usual stoic expression, and finally let an unpracticed smile steal over her face. "I'm back," she offered.

The two girls laughed and gave her a traditional greeting. Then they stared up as the _El-Hazard_ came hovering down near them. "Well," Akari said, "I guess we all have some explaining to do…."

8-8-8

On the bridge of the _El-Hazard_ , the five sat in a circle, three of the girls staring somewhat nervously at the young man in their midst (as usual, Rei was stoic and unemotional).

"This _is_ interesting," Delryn noted, looking around with interest. "This is a nice ship…quite a surprising artifact. Well, let me see if I've got this right. You girls are all students of the famous Earth school, Mahora Academy, and you came here to Arcanus Myrror on vacation with your teacher, Kain Lockeheart…the son of the famous Kalan Lockeheart. However, you were attacked by the Obsidian Star, the bad guys Kalan supposedly defeated twenty years ago, and after they scattered you and destroyed the Gateport, you were framed for it and so are now all on the run. That's what I've gotten so far. And three of you, now, have magical Archmage-level contracts with your teacher—Ami has her book, this ship is Miss Nanami's, and that robot-monster was the…'artifact' of Miss Rei here. Have I got all that right?"

"Yeah…pretty much…" Nanami agreed easily.

"B-but what about you two…?" Akari asked. "You have artifacts…you didn't have them before, so…er…."

"That is correct, Heiro- _san_ ," Rei informed her. "We have been in contact with Kain- _sensei_ and Kamo- _san_ since our scattering, and we have made contacts with him." She turned to stare at Delryn and added, "I do not know if I should share more in the presence of our visitor or not."

"No…you probably should," Ami sighed. "We do owe quite a bit to Delryn, after all…."

"Please, let me hear it," Delryn insisted. "This is an interesting situation…I'd love to hear all the details. Contracts, huh?" He smirked. "I guess there are some major advantages to being assigned as the teacher to a class full of girls…."

The four stared at him briefly. "It seems you are aware of the conditions required for a contract?" Rei queried.

"Oh…yeah…I know someone who's in a contract," Delryn hedged. "I know all about them, thanks to him. How many other classmates have made contracts with him…?"

"If none of the other girls have made a contract with him, then there are a total of twelve contracts including Kenjirô, the other eleven all being his students."

Delryn whistled. "Wow. What a player." He turned to Akari. "Well, what about you, Akari? You're the only one here who _hasn't_ made a contract with your teacher. Why not?"

"Ah…that is…er…." Akari was, unusually for her, completely panicking.

"Akari- _chan_ is too much of a maiden to kiss Kain- _sensei_ ," Nanami teased. "Raised under the harshest martial arts environments, she can face down psycho killers without breaking a sweat but faints as soon as a boy winks at her."

"N-N-Nanami- _chan_!" Akari whined.

Delryn chuckled again. "Well, in any case, you were just about to explain _why_ you're wandering around aboard this ship, I think. Am I allowed to stay?"

"Okay, here we go," Nanami replied flippantly. "Kain- _sensei_ , Kenjiro- _kun_ , Chiucchi, Kamo- _kun_ , Rei- _chan_ and I all met up early on out west, in the wild lands. Then we found Izumi- _chan_ and the rest…."

Nanami went on to explain the story of Act 8 to the recovered trio, including their threefold plan of uniting the class, freeing the slaves, and returning safely to earth. "So, we're here doing our part as the lost lamb-finding team," she concluded. "We've ascertained the presence of all but three of our members, and so now we're going to try and round up some of the more troubled groups so that we can safely travel to Orimus together." She turned to Delryn. "So, now that our story has been told, what's the deal with this guy? If you don't mind me asking, who, exactly, are you?"

"Me? Just a traveling swordsman," Delryn replied nonchalantly. "I'm training to compete in that Memorial Tournament. Shame to hear that the fate of your friends might rest on your teacher's victory, because I intend to win it and I'm not going to go easy on anyone."

"I see," Rei replied quietly. "However, you have great work ahead of you. At your current level of power, you would be hard-pressed to compete against Kenjirô- _san_ , let alone Kain- _sensei_." As Delryn turned to stare dangerously at the stoic girl, she continued, "But what is the rest of your identity? From where do you come?"

"Me? Well, I'm from Arcanus Myrror," Delryn hedged. "I'm Delryn…Hinamori. My family, we are a bit of…well, not exactly vagabonds, kind of gypsies, I guess…."

He started as Akari suddenly perked up and pointed at him with a shout. "Oh! Hinamori! I knew it! Your sword-style is quite a bit like Momo- _chan_ 's! Are you related to her?" Akari frowned suddenly, looking down. "Well, that sword release was similar too, but you're a human, not a _hinigami_ …how would that work…?"

Now Delryn was staring at Akari. "Wait…you…know Hinamori Momo…?"

"Ah! Of course! She's one of our classmates!"

"Classmate…?" He shook his head. "What's Momo doing in a girl's middle school? Really, the more I hear about this school…." And then he took on a thoughtful look. "Oh…wait…I guess I did see her on the bounty sheet as well. I didn't quite recognize her hairstyle, though…."

"So, Momo- _san_ taught you your sword skills?" Ami asked politely, looking up from her book. "I see…I guess that would make sense. I suppose, to teach his son the sword, Aiden Rylack would call on a swordsman companion of Kalan Lockeheart. And, if you wanted to travel more or less incognito, it's an innocuous enough name to take…."

Delryn started again. "W-what? How did you…?"

"Eh? Rylack?" Akari asked, confused.

"Aiden Rylack was one of the companions of Kalan Lockeheart," Ami explained to her. "He was supposed to meet us after we arrived here in Arcanus Myrror, before the Gateport incident. He's been quite active over the years, and many of his feats are well-known. I've been able to find quite a bit of data about him…including his wife and son." Ami held up her book. "When in book form, 'La Guerre et La Paix' isn't quite as descriptive and informative as Yue's, but, combined with the Eye of Iris, it has some data on well-known subjects."

"Okay, okay," Delryn sighed. "You got me…my secret's out. Delryn Rylack. Son of Aiden Rylack."

"Ah!" Akari said suddenly. "I get it now! As the son of a famous hero, of course you'd be able to enter a famous tournament like this. But the whole reason you want to is that you want to prove who you are, regardless of your name. That's why you're using an alias…."

The assembled group stared at her, then exchanged glances. "How…insightful," Nanami said. "Is that really Heiro Akari- _chan_ , the Baka Ranger, making that kind of astute realization?"

"A-ah…well…if there's one thing I understand, it's fighting…" Akari murmured.

Delryn glanced around at the group and smiled. "Well. Now that's out of the way, there's just the little matter of _your_ secret. We were interrupted before…but there's the question of how to buy my silence."

The stares turned to Delryn, all four initially confused, then Ami and Akari remembered and reddened suddenly. "A-about that…" Ami began.

"W-we can't just appeal to you…as the son of the Red Wings?" Akari pleaded.

"Ah, no, no, it's not that easy," Delryn insisted. "My dad and his past have no relationship to me and my future…that's what I'm trying to prove, after all. This is all very interesting, but even someone like me could get in big trouble if I go around protecting known fugitives like this. But if you want my help, I can be persuaded to keep quiet about it…and I'm rather easy to persuade in these situations…."

"What's this about?" Nanami demanded curiously.

"T-the thing is…after Delryn figured out our secret…he asked…." Ami attempted haltingly.

"C'mon, a kiss is a small price to pay for your safety…and my support," Delryn insisted. "I mean, three of you have made contracts with your teacher, so you've already kissed him, right? Why should he get all the attention, the criminal?"

"Ah…he's actually demanding payment in womanly charms!?" Nanami asked, almost eagerly, excitedly. She sat back with a sigh. "Finally!" As Ami and Akari stared at her in surprise, she added, "Well, I mean, just look at the boys we have around us…they're all gentlemanly, repressed, or just not interested in girls…I was wondering if any of us had any womanly charms left at all…."

"Ah…does that mean Nanami- _san_ is going to bribe Delryn with a kiss?" Ami asked half-teasingly.

"N-now I never said that! There _are_ rules and…."

Delryn, however, was distracted by Rei's intense stare remaining on him. "A-and, what's your interest…Ayanami- _san_ , was it?" _('All these girls…are ridiculously cute…and as for this one….')_

She walked up to him and continued that intense stare from mere inches away. "So, a kiss is required to purchase your aid and silence?" Rei intoned. Then, to the shock of all present, she reached out and grasped the back of Delryn's head, then pulled him forward to engage him in an intense kiss.

After a surprisingly long moment, Rei released Delryn from the lip-lock, then returned to her seat, completely ignoring the stares of the others…or the stare of the stunned Delryn himself. After seating herself, she returned her gaze to Delryn and asked, "So, Delryn Rylack… _is_ that sufficient payment for your aid and silence?"

"W-what? Y-yeah…yeah, that's…that's fine…." He leaned back in his chair, trying to recover his senses. "W-well…in any case…I can't argue with that. It seems like hanging with you guys is going to be real interesting." He raised his head. "Of course, I'm still not changing my plans any. My concern is winning the Memorial Tournament and proving myself—not as the son of Aiden Rylack, but as Delryn the swordsman. I'm not going to go easy on anyone. So, as much as I can sympathize with the plight of your classmates who became slaves…I'm taking the victory and prize money from your Kain- _sensei_ as well." He shrugged and continued, "Of course, that doesn't mean that I want to see your friends and classmates _remain_ slaves. After I win and take that prize money, I think I could be persuaded to help you guys out…."

Nanami smirked. "Well, you _are_ confident. But that's a long ways off. So…we're now going to start gathering up the rest of our scattered friends…what about you?"

Delryn shrugged. "I'm still determined to train myself up to the tournament, but, for many reasons, it seems like I can still do that if I tag along with you all the way. Besides, you girls and your situation really are interesting. So, what else can you tell me about this amazing teacher and this amazing school of yours…?"

8-8-8

As the _El-Hazard_ continued its trip through the sky, the girls regaled Delryn with tales of their adventures with Kain- _sensei_ thus far. Akari told of Kain's arrival, of the mysterious library adventure, and, at the others' insistence, about what they had heard about Kain's battle with Alyssa. Nanami went next, telling about the story of the trip to Kyoto. Ami then told the story of the German graf that attacked them, and Rei finished by telling tales of the Festival. They all then told about their summer, and finally about their trip to Arcanus Myrror.

Delryn found himself initially skeptical about all these tales, but the sheer number of them and the details the girls were able to provide convinced him of their truth. He shook his head when they had more or less finished their tales. "Here I am, trying to make a name for myself in Arcanus Myrror, and Kalan Lockeheart's son is having the grandest adventures at a school in Japan. Well, now it's my turn. Whatever it is the Obsidian Star is planning, they'll be stopped…and I'll be a big part of that."

8-8-8

Nagi sighed as the ship departed with all five passengers on board. "Well, really, an Evangelion? That simply wasn't fair. I wanted to see that monster rampage around and destroy a few towns or something, at least." Then a black shape, something like the solid shadow of a bird, alighted down and stood on the air next to him.

Nagi turned to the creature, which sent out a voice, "Nagi- _sama_ , a report from Zerva and his group. They failed to capture the Crystal Princess…at the last minute, a pair of interlopers, especially a man wielding a wind sword that dispelled even the Princess' subjugation enchantment, arrived and saved the two of them."

Nagi frowned. "Really…Zerva and the rest failed? So much for one of Eminus' greatest groups of servants. Well…a sword that dispels enchantments…that sounds somewhat familiar. Perhaps I can't be too harsh on them…I suppose I should investigate this matter myself and see what can be done with it…after all, the Crystal Princess is still the most important part of our plan. Wait for me, Mai- _chan_ …I'll see you soon…."

There was a swirl of energy, and Nagi was gone…and as for what befell him, go back to the last chapter.

F I N

 _Author's Note: Chronology and_ Kaijû

 _As I playfully noted in the last line, this chapter actually takes place before the last chapter. I made mention of the fact back in the author's note to Chapter 1: all these separate stories do not necessarily take place chronologically in the order they are represented. Because only a few characters appear in more than one of these separate segments, I am not worrying about having them be in chronological order—these are simply all separate events that take place between the scattering and their arrival in Orimus, which will be finalized roundabout Act 13. These stories exist with the purpose of showing everyone's situations, introducing more side characters who become involved, and, of course, using scenarios and stories I want to use. So, please don't be confused too much by the non-chronology of these events._

 _Now, as I noted at the end of the first chapter involving Delryn and his crew, I introduced the Tarax pretty much just so I could have an enemy for Rei to fight aboard her Evangelion._ Kaijû _, of course, are the gigantic monsters that, apart from King Kong, were almost entirely originated by the Japanese through Godzilla and similar monsters, and were propagated further by_ Sentai _(superhero) teams such as the Power Rangers and even earlier anime equivalents like Voltron (or even further, to the great Ultraman!). Therefore, it's only appropriate to have the Eva go after a_ Kaijû _. I went ahead and had Rei's Eva be Unit 01, the most famous Eva and the one piloted by Shinji. The reasons for this are: 1) It_ is _the most famous, the quintessential Eva, and 2) the exact details of this weird and bizarre situation are almost inexplicable, but basically both Rei Ayanami and Unit 01 originally were created from Shinji's mother, Yui. I also further added the Eva homages by giving it a variety of famous Eva weapons and powers, starting with the Lance of Longinus. Eva was full of Christian mythology, and the weapon that pierced Adam, the first 'angel' (or apostle as the original Japanese called them—and in fact, to make things more complicated, it was actually 'Lilith', the second angel…all so confusing…) was called after the spear that supposedly pierced the body of Christ despite the fact that it was a huge weapon only capable of being wielded by an Eva. Rei used it to save Asuka from the Hallelujah Chorus in the original series (boy, that was a weird episode) and so it makes a great first weapon for her to use. It could simply be called 'Longinus', as Japanese RPGs often give that name to a super-powered spear, the same as they borrow from nearly every mythology to name their ultimate weapons: Excalibur, Gae Bolg, Mjolnir, and Masamune are all common names for weapons in Final Fantasy and the like. The second weapon was a 'generic' assault rifle (as much as one wielded by a 100-foot tall robot can be considered generic) such as was used in most of the training and a few times by Rei or others in the field. I also gave it the ghastly but cool ability of the berserk Unit 01 to replace its damaged parts by using the pieces of the angels it acquired. And, for the final blow, it used the somehow most powerful weapon the Evas ever wielded, their giant vibroknives. All-in-all, while it was a short chapter, I appreciated the opportunity to play with all this._

 _And, of course, because I wanted Akari and Delryn to do something during all this, I had it spawn little monsters for the pair to battle (and Ami to analyze). Here, Delryn's soul blade and a few more bits about his past are revealed. Delryn's soul blade has a Japanese name…perhaps this will be addressed at a later time as well…_

 _Anyway, after perhaps the shortest chapter so far, we return to Kiami, Kazumi, and group…._


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Seven: The Hunted

For any not used to it, it was a most perplexing sight: a man (cursing repeatedly) floating around the room while reclining in an expansive, exquisite chair. His appearance was bizarre, to say the least. His head was adorned with short pink hair and large round glasses, and he was dressed in a black suit with pink-and-white feathers around his collar, and completed his outfit with white gloves and dress shoes.

"I do not believe you'll find it there, Dist, no matter how much you search," Van informed him from the doorway as he tore through Jade's office.

"But it has to be!" Dist replied vehemently. "I've had people search his offices in Grand Chokma! His private residence in Keterburg! Even the secret files of the military don't have it! We can't proceed without it!"

"Then there are two possibilities: either he has destroyed all the records, so that the only ones left are in his head, or he has used magic to seal them away some place we can't find them. In either case, we must find and capture Jade Curtis so that we can extract those secrets from him. It is obviously the only way that we will find that which we seek."

"That's very interesting," a new voice murmured.

The two men turned to the new arrival. "Ah, Miss Elaine…I didn't hear you come in," Van said simply.

"No, I just arrived." The woman stepped inside and looked around. "You know, I was under the impression that we were to attack this vessel simply to secure it as a weapon for the Obsidian Star. I wondered why a single landship was of interest to us, but supposedly there were special missions we needed to complete for the plan in the near future that required this landship. However, it seems that you two had a different objective in leading us to this attack…."

"How dare you!" Dist began. "There is no need for a mere peon to know anything about this matter! We…."

Van silenced him with an upraised hand. "Forgive me, Elaine, for not being completely truthful thus far. Yes, there was another need for this vessel. The research of Jade Curtis is necessary for us to build a perfect human kingdom to rule the world that the Obsidian Star will build."

"Really. Tell me more about this. What research, exactly, required so many deaths here, on both sides?" Elaine stared hard at the two.

Van chuckled. "Do you know the origin of the moniker 'Jade the Necromancer', Miss Elaine? That is the secret of this whole matter…."

"T-to think that we're traveling with Jade the Necromancer…" murmured Mei, her voice tinged with twin sentiments of fear and admiration.

Kiami glanced at her quizzically. "You…know of him, Mei- _chan_?"

"W-well…yes…he is a famous mage of the magical side. He even contributed to the war twenty years ago, when he was about our age…."

"W-what about that name?" Kazumi asked her. "What is…'The Necromancer'?"

"It is said that he collected corpses from the battlefields he passed," Overcast said cheerfully, startling the girls with his sudden appearance. "Don't worry, he's well aware of all the rumors…it's how he got his name, after all. Necromancers are rare now, but in the old lawless days, during the Dark Ages on Earth, necromancers were common, and were the scourge of the world. A large reason for the growing unions and coalitions of mages was because they were dedicated to stamping out the necromancers and had to band together to do it. To be called 'the Necromancer' in this day and age—part of it is because of that rumor about how he gathered the bodies of the slain, and part of it is just how feared and despised he was because of his power. I hope you understand just how terrible the epithet is, but he's accepted it with surprisingly good grace."

"Hmm…is that so?" Kiami murmured, observing Overcast carefully. "And…why are you sharing this little bit of information with us?"

"Well…I wonder." Overcast glanced over at his leader, who was comparing notes with Tear, Rin, and Rin's spirit Archer, who had been scouting the area for them. "I think perhaps that Jade's past may be part of this. Why did the Obsidian Star attack a landship out in the middle of nowhere? They didn't seem to be after you, nor have any other reason according to those four ladies who attacked us. But Van Grants did not seem surprised to be fighting Jade the Necromancer. On the contrary, he was seemingly expecting it…which is why he called up such a powerful attack force."

"S-so what does that mean?" Kazumi quavered. "What was his purpose?"

"Something that only Colonel Jade Curtis would have access to…something unique to him."

"Y-you mean…the secret of Replication?" Mei burst out. As the stares of all three turned her direction, she reddened and continued, "W-well, Jade the Necromancer is famous for the invention of the art of Replication, of magically creating copies of objects, or even living people—perfect cloning. Of course, there's all sorts of rumors of his attempts at recreating people…it was supposedly the reason for his, er, corpse collecting…."

"You're very well informed, Miss Sakura," Overcast told her cheerfully.

"A-ah, w-well…I-I like learning about famous people…."

"The details of Jade's research, past, and such are his to divulge if he so feels inclined," Overcast continued. "But I believe that this research might, for some reason, be the Obsidian Star's real objective. I'll discuss this matter with him later. But I thought that you should be aware…the Obsidian Star is not, at this time, after you. Although I think your capture would be a bonus…."

They turned as the remaining members joined them. Jade began his businesslike instructions. "Miss Tôsaka's spirit, Archer, has scouted the way ahead…we seem to be clear all the way to St. Binah. We're still on course to arrive this evening. I have an old friend in St. Binah who should be able to help us, but we should be ready for more attacks by the Obsidian Star." He glanced over at Overcast. "Lieutenant, how are you for armaments?"

Overcast drew up his sleeve, showing a few bracelets. "I had plenty stashed at those ruins, so I'll be fully-powered for a good while."

Jade nodded. "The rest of you are ready?" After one more glance around, he declared, "Then let's get moving. I'd rather not wait around to be caught by the enemy here." So saying, he turned on his heel and began his surprisingly swift march. The rest fell in line, following, heading for their uncertain future.

8-8-8

The bird, a bold blue-feathered raptor of large size, circled as it descended and finally lighted upon the outstretched arm of the girl. It shrieked at her, and she turned to Van. "They are nearly to St. Binah. They made it far past us."

"As to be expected. They were well-prepared. You've done well to find them, Arietta. These are more the outskirts of Grandall, but still, once there, they will have the protection and aid of the Grandall military once again." Van considered for a moment. "It would likely be too costly to attack them again if they get reinforcements, but we certainly must stop them…both for our needs and to prevent too much word of this from leaking out. We must find another means."

"Then might I suggest a lure?" Vira-Lorr commented. "If we acquire something they want badly enough, we can drag them out and force them to meet on our terms. At the worst, we might be able to exchange a hostage for the data you want so badly…."

"Yes…that would work." Van stroked at his chin. "If we feign an attack, we could draw out a few, and then take one of those remaining." He turned to the girl at his other side. "Is your friend ready for more work, Arietta?"

Arietta was young, perhaps 13 or 14. Her dull pink hair was long and she wore a black dress. In her arms—arm, currently, as the other still held her blue raptor—was a large stuffed animal, worn and obviously well loved. With a nod she sent the bird flying again and wrapped both arms around her ragged companion. "Of course, Van. Whatever you need, I will do my best to provide it."

8-8-8

"The walled city," Jade explained, perhaps unnecessarily. "St. Binah."

St. Binah was still surrounded by great walls, a defense that normally had long ago been rendered obsolete by advanced gunpowder-driven weaponry; however, the walls of St. Binah had a significant meaning in its continued existence.

"Of course, we can't actually tell you anything about its defensive capabilities," Overcast finished cheerfully.

"Yes…never mind that." Jade pushed at his glasses. "The guards at the gate need an explanation. Please be silent and let me deal with this." They followed obediently behind as he moved forward to meet the lead guardsman at the gate.

"Colonel Jade Curtis, Grandall Special Forces, Third Division," Jade introduced himself to guard in response to the request of identity. "This…rather motley group here, save for my lieutenant, are a group of civilians under my protection. Is Field Marshal McGovern still over this city?"

"Ah…" the nervous lieutenant began. "Well, General McGovern is the military figure in charge. And the Field Marshal is still here…."

"Very well. Take us to both of them. We have top secret information that needs to go to his Majesty as quickly as possible."

Jade's commanding tone set the guards to work instantly, and a guide appeared to lead the makeshift party through the gates and down the streets of St. Binah. They were the subject of a great many stares by the townsfolk, but their attention was taken by further commentary by Jade.

"Field Marshal McGovern is retired, but he was one of the highest-ranked military men in the country for a long time," the colonel explained. "It's fortunate that he's here…or, rather, that we ended up so close to him. He's an old friend of mine…and, if fact, was one of the commanders and confidants of Kalan Lockeheart in the war twenty years ago. He should be quite sympathetic to our plight. His son, Brigadier General McGovern, is another matter, but we shouldn't have any problems."

"What's the matter with the younger McGovern?" Kiami queried.

"Nothing in particular…outside of me. He's always been a little wary and jealous of me because of the young age at which I attained my rank…he sees me as something of a threat to his career, as silly as that is. Still, he is a man of honor and integrity, taking after his father…he won't make things difficult on us simply to spite me."

They were taken to a large building in the center of the city, a large marble-adorned capitol building. Ascending the steps, they passed through great windowed doors and were directed to a back office. Within was a well-dressed old gentleman with massively long white hair and a beard of equal magnificence. At his elbow was a middle-aged man in a military uniform, with sharp features and gray hair tied in a small ponytail. The elderly gentleman glanced up at them and spoke first. "Ah, is that little Jade? My, what an interesting little troop you've come in with. I assume you have an interesting story to tell us…."

Jade pushed at his glasses. "Good to see you again, too, Field Marshal. I apologize for our intrusion, but there are indeed interesting stories behind all this…."

"Forget the Field Marshal, and forget the apologies," the old man said, waving away the words. "I'm retired, and too old to waste time with niceties. Instead, introduce me to your motley crew, and tell me their story."

The former marshal and his son, Brigadier General Glenn McGovern, were introduced, and likewise Jade's party was named for him. Overcast then gave a summary of their situation—sparing few details.

"The Obsidian Star?" the younger McGovern queried sharply. "You're sure of this?"

"I would say it's almost certain," Jade replied in his usual even tone. "Between the power they wielded and the secrets they knew, there is little chance of it being any other. And this certainly isn't the time to doubt—it was the nation's pursuit of Kalan Lockeheart for so long during the last great war, ignoring the evidences of the Obsidian Star, that put our nation in such a terrible state…as you are well aware."

"Yes…" the elder McGovern muttered. "How terrifying, to think that those days may be upon us again…I'm far too old for this now. But I understand the situation. What about you, Glenn?"

"There are conflicting stories," the general replied almost reluctantly. "But all of them seem to point to the interference of something beyond normal threats, and the Obsidian Star would explain a great deal. This is a threat we cannot ignore or take lightly." He considered Jade seriously. "We can keep you here while we send word back to the capital."

"We appreciate the offer," Jade answered evenly. "And we would be more than happy to accept your hospitality for tonight. We must, however, be on the road by tomorrow morning. The enemy's objective seems to involve our little party in some way; they are likely to continue seeking us, and will try to stifle any means to communicate the situation to the capital. If you keep us here, you will likely only put us and your fair city in terrible danger. This band completely overwhelmed the Tartarus, without effort—they would likely hesitate, but only for a moment, to attack this city in order to take us, and they would likely succeed, despite the inevitably high cost."

Glenn stared back dourly, but the older man warned him, "I hate to say it, but Jade's probably right, my boy. Jade's unique situation is far too dangerous to try to handle according to procedure. He's the only one with any intel or insight on the situation, so we should let him do what he feels is best for now."

The younger McGovern sighed and nodded. "You're right…I just can't stand feeling so helpless. Very well…we'll put you up to the night, and prepare provisions for you tomorrow. I'm going to do what I can to send word to his Majesty all the same." He nodded and headed for the door. "Get some rest…if what you've said is true, you'll need all the rest you can get while you can."

"It seems little more needs to be said on that score," Kiami noted.

8-8-8

Tear slid silently into the dark, moonlit room of the library. A small sigh escaped her lips as she attempted to push her various, tangled worried thoughts of the recent events out of her mind. St. Binah's library was famed throughout Grandall, largely because McGovern, a native of the city and its perpetual, ageless patron, was an extremely studious book-lover who strove to accumulate as great a collection as he could…and, due to his generous and open nature, he left the books to the city's library so all could benefit from his habit.

And this large collection of books was just the thing Tear needed right now to distract herself from the turmoil running through her mind. She didn't know what, exactly, she wanted to peruse, but there had to be something here, be it history, mythology, or even self-help, that could keep her active mind subdued. If she could quiet it, perhaps she could find sleep….

She lit a magical light in her hand and began to peruse the shelves. The library was very well organized; she had found a wall of histories, and she began to pick through the various titles before her, proclaiming knowledge of both Arcanus Myrror and earth.

"Hmm…finding sleep a harder prey to catch, Tear- _senpai_?"

Tear jumped and glanced over at the shadow. A moment later she could have sworn no one was there, but Kiami sat up from the two chairs she was lying on, pulling the book from her face as she moved her own gaze to Tear. "Tsukimori- _san_ …what are you doing here?"

"Ah, normally I think one says 'the same as you' in these circumstances, but that wouldn't be true," Kiami opined. "I came here to sleep, but you've interrupted that."

"Why are you sleeping here?" Tear demanded crossly, turning her full attention to the younger girl and folding her arms to assume a stern, scolding big sister pose. "Aren't our quarters sufficient? They seemed perfectly fine to me…."

"Ah…this is true," Kiami admitted with a mischievous smile. "But we're not safe enough yet for me to relax like that. Even if we have nothing to fear from the good gentlemen here, we _are_ still being pursued. I wouldn't put it past the Obsidian Star to attack us in our beds. I decided that, if such a thing happened, _I,_ at least, would catch them by surprise. This the last place anyone who knows me would expect to find me.

"But enough about me," she continued as Tear's expression softened. "What about you, Tear- _senpai_? Obviously, sleep isn't on your mind right now…."

It was a subtle and casual invitation, but Kiami's look was serious. Tear hesitated, then replied, "…What, exactly, are you suggesting, Tsukimori- _san_?"

Kiami shrugged. "That man, the leader of that group…he was your brother, wasn't he? That's how you identified him at the time. I can't help but believe the reason you can't sleep tonight is connected to his sudden appearance…right?"

Tear considered this, then sighed. "…Yes. I suppose I could do worse than…getting some of that off my chest." She sat in the second chair that Kiami had previously been occupying, and then began her story. "My brother…vanished ten years ago, on assignment. He was a great warrior and mage, a valiant agent of the Magic Council. I lost both of my parents soon after I was born, and so he practically raised me. He was my hero…but after he disappeared, I resolved myself to being my own woman, and taking care of myself. I'd never even entertained fantasies that he was alive…that seemed…disingenuous to him."

"Ten years ago…" Kiami murmured. "I keep hearing that a lot. What happened ten years ago, exactly? Is it just a common mage figure of speech to denote 'a long time ago', or are all these disappearances connected somehow? I can't believe that so many siblings and parents were lost 'ten years ago' simply out of coincidence."

Tear glanced over at her _kohai_ and smiled slightly. "…Yes, they are all connected. There are only two known events from 'ten years ago'. You see, Kalan Lockeheart, while famous as a great hero who saved the world, is not actually as revered as he is made out to be—the common folk love him, but to many of the rulers his interferences and self-righteous vigilantism were nuisances at best. But the Magic Council of Mahora and Caelar and, indeed, all the high Mage Councils of Earth, always saw him as their personal champion, and so even after the…unpleasantness of the aftermath of the war, they looked out for him and his interests. Shortly after the birth of Kain Lockeheart, he vanished without a trace, and so the Archmage Council took his son under their protection. They always held out hope that Kalan Lockeheart would one day reappear.

"And so the first event of ten years ago is, as Kain- _sensei_ probably told you, the destruction of his village. He was the only witness, and he was only a four-year-old boy, but he claimed that his father had saved him. Even if a child that young couldn't be trusted, he had irrefutable proof with his cloak. And so the Council formed a powerful, elite team to follow his last trail into the magical world to see if any trace of him could be found again. All those you've likely heard of disappearing—my brother, Rin's father, Tsukai Kajirô's brother—they were part of that group. They vanished without a trace themselves, and so, despite the fears of what that could entail, no more parties were sent in pursuit of Kalan Lockeheart."

"All those who disappeared at that time…" Kiami murmured, thinking of a pair of her other classmates who had not been mentioned. "Well…I'll leave that alone for now. Anyway, now we've found your brother alive, and on the side of the Obsidian Star. It seems they, unfortunately, might have found the wrong thing?"

Tear hesitated. "Yes. I suppose so…."

"Do you have any idea why your brother would side with the enemy?"

"…Maybe. I was still young when he disappeared, myself, but I remember…he was…very bitter. It wasn't just my parents who were lost…my homeland was destroyed around the time of my birth, as a result and repercussion of the great war that Kalan stopped twenty years ago. Van seemed to believe…it was sacrificed for the sake and safety of the remaining kingdoms, and he seemed to…hate them all for it. Maybe he's after revenge…but otherwise…I don't know what he's after."

"I see. Thank you sharing, Tear- _senpai_. If…this is too hard on you, perhaps you should retire from us…?"

Tear shook her head emphatically. "No. My duty is to safeguard Kain- _sensei_ and all of you, all of his students…I'm responsible for all of you, especially since I used the spell that scattered you across this world. And if my brother really has thrown away all his morals in order to seek revenge, then I…I have the responsibility to stop him, as his sister."

"If you say so, Tear- _senpai_. Just don't push yourself beyond the limits of what you can do."

Tear wasn't the only member of their party with sleeping issues that night. Kazumi, perpetually worried since the beginning of this disaster, found her mind once again occupied with fears and concerns. The last battle had been the most intense yet, and despite the arrival of their unexpected saviors, the threat against them was renewed and real. Although discomforted by the military aspect of it, the ride aboard the Tartarus had not been unpleasant, and Kazumi had been able to relax somewhat; now, it seemed that a real threat was once again imminent….

She found her own tonic in walking outside, feeling the wind and seeing the twinkling, alien stars overhead. Kazumi was not a dedicated astronomer or stargazer, yet even she could tell that the stars overhead were alien and they reminded her that she was a stranger in a strange land…

"Better be careful, _Ojô-chan_. This night is not safe, nor secure."

Kazumi started and looked up as the red-robed spirit Rin called 'Archer' materialized before her. Sharp featured, with his dark skin, stark white hair and bright garments, he certainly stood out despite his lack of presence. Rin had not yet taken the time to 'introduce' her apparent servant, and he had not held much of a conversation with any of them yet either. As she considered him, she could sense….

"Ah…you…Archer- _san_ , is it? You're…not quite a spirit…or a human soul…."

Archer smiled wryly. "I see…that Spirit Jewel you carry allows you to perceive and communicate with spirits. I am a Heroic Spirit, the soul of a human mage-knight that has passed on. From what I have learned from Rin about your little party, you've had some experience with _hinigami_. In our case, our magic and our intense desires, our work left undone, leads us to be claimed by the Throne of Heroes, a place of spirits and magic. Mages who are trained and skilled can summon us and form a contract with us, making us their heroic companions, allowing us a chance to fulfill our unfinished business. So, we are souls of the departed made semi-physical in your world, like _hinigami_ , but rather than being composed and sustained by _reishi_ , spirit particles, we are actually spirits of magic and mana."

Kazumi relaxed slightly, fascinated by this revelation. "Oh…I see…so, you have some great purpose in…returning to our world? What…is your desire…?"

Archer smiled wryly. "In truth, I don't remember."

Kazumi blinked in surprise. "Eh? Um…what?"

"Rin is a brilliant mage, a talented prodigy from a powerful family," Archer chuckled. "However, when she made the ritual to summon me, she tied the ritual to the peak hour of her powers—a rare and difficult aspect of a mage's magic to determine, but, when done correctly, one that greatly increases the power of the spell. She intended to use it to summon a great and powerful hero. However, she lost track of the actual time, and did it an hour too early, which caused the ritual to backfire…nothing serious, but my arrival was not very smooth, and, as a result, I seem to have amnesia. I cannot remember my name or anything of my original identity, much less what I truly desired as I died. However, I have a perfect knowledge of all my magic and abilities, and so my combat effectiveness has not been harmed at all. What you have perceived as my name—'Archer'—is more the identity of my 'class', a side effect of this heroic summoning." He glanced out, over the wall of St. Binah and towards the west. "In any case, since I don't sleep, Rin has me scouting in order to search for the enemy, and I had better return to it. You should return to bed, _Ojô-chan_ …I realize you may be troubled by all this, but it's the best thing for you right now."

"I-I will…just a bit longer…and then I'll head in…."

Archer nodded. "As you say. Rest well." And he faded away.

Kazumi stared after the spirit, then shivered as a chill night breeze made a brief announcement. Pulling her warm night robe tighter around her, she nonetheless continued her walk away from the lodgings….

8-8-8

The man in the floating chair gloated as he stared at the fortified city. Behind him loomed a large machine, vaguely humanoid with a large globular body and a pair of arms and legs extending from that torso. "Ho…the great walled city of St. Binah…so self-important…but now we'll see just how great your walls are…."

"Is that so…that would be inconveniencing us. Our ladies, especially, have need of their beauty sleep."

Dist continued the recent fad of being startled at a sudden new arrival. Archer materialized above the madman and his machine. "W-what!? Who are you!? Who dares interrupt the gloating of Dist the Rose!?"

"Dist the Rose? Really?" Archer snickered. "Well, who I am doesn't matter. I am simply the one who will end your threat." Two swords, short and curved, one white and one black, appeared in his hands, and he dropped on top of the pink-haired recliner.

Dist's odd vehicle shot away quickly, and Dist shouted, "Go, Kaiser Dist R! Crush that uncouth miscreant!"

The massive mechanism moved with speed to intercept the spirit, and Archer faded away to avoid the attack. He materialized a safe distance away, observing the opponent. "Well…quite an interesting MagiTech beast you've got there. It can even detect and attack my spirit body, eh?" He raised his swords into a defensive posture. "This certainly won't be boring…."

8-8-8

Kazumi had just turned herself back towards her bed when she saw the flash in the sky above. Even over the wall, she could see the flashes of combat taking place some distance away; instinctively, through her jewel, she could feel the magical power of one of one of the combatants. "Archer- _san_ …."

As she began to wrestle with the idea of heading out to his aid, a presence suddenly appeared behind her. A hand adorned by vicious long claws reached around and poised themselves in front of her face. The voice of Kairen spoke softly to her: "Yoshida Kazumi…if you value your life, do not move or attempt to resist. Your life is in my hands."

Kazumi froze in fright, rigid and pale as she stared at the glinting blades in front of her eyes. Then, further behind her, a clear and strong voice burst out, "Energy Blast!"

Kairen half-turned and extended her left hand, and her purple orb appeared. The energy from the chanted spell began to form, but was immediately sucked into the orb, as it had neutralized so many attacks in Kyoto. Jade, observing this defense for the first time, pushed against his glasses and carefully considered the magical ward. "Hmm…what an interesting defense. Something like that seems quite unfair…."

"Sour grapes, oh illustrious Colonel Curtis?" teased Ryuryu as she appeared in front of Kazumi (but staring past her and her captor to the soldier). "I'm surprised an old man like you is up this late. Don't you need your beauty sleep?"

Jade continued his analysis, and Ryuryu continued simply, "Well, in any case, we're going to be borrowing this one. If you want her back…there's an old, abandoned mansion to the south of St. Binah, in the mountains. Come quickly, and bring all your notes…Mr. Grants would like to discuss your magical science with you, he says."

And then the two violet-haired girls vanished along with their captive. Jade sighed and adjusted the bridge of his glasses as the rest of their party emerged from their quarters. "What's going on?" Rin demanded.

"Well…it seems we have a problem," was Jade's calm reply.

8-8-8

The machine finished falling to pieces from Archer's last cuts with his twin blades, and Dist's chair did a hurried backpedal as the spirit turned his direction. "H-how dare you!" the man screeched, somehow showing unrighteous indignation as he pushed himself forward, leaning in angrily even as his chair was retreating. "How dare you do that to my beloved Kaiser Dist! You'll pay for that!"

"Really?" Archer said with a small smile. He pointed one sword at the scientist. "Well then, make me pay. Can you?"

Dist finally recoiled from this challenge, the anger turning to fear, but a new figure suddenly dropped next to him. Two shots rang out, and Archer retreated himself, fading away and reappearing some distance back a few moments later.

"That's enough, Dist," Legretta informed him. "Your distraction worked perfectly. We accomplished our first objective. Let's go." And the two vanished before Archer could renew his attack.

Archer's swords disappeared and he turned his gaze back towards the city. "Mission accomplished…? I don't like the sound of that. I better go find out what's going on…." And he faded again from sight.

8-8-8

About fifteen minutes later….

"Kazumi- _chan_ was kidnapped?" Kiami asked wearily. "Well, that's nearly the worst thing that could have happened to us…."

"Logically, it would be best to go forward," Jade said crisply. "We have more important objectives than rescuing one lost girl, regardless of her affiliation to us…."

This statement was met with heavy outrage. "What's that!?" Rin demanded first. "You have 'more important objectives', you say!? Not us! Regardless of _your_ 'objectives', we're here to rescue the students of our school! Kazumi- _chan_ 's safety is the most important thing for us right now!"

"Well…" Kiami murmured. "I appreciate that sentiment. After what we went through at the Festival, it's surprising to hear that from you…."

"This and that are two different things," Rin answered sharply. "It's really quite simple…we were sent _specifically_ to make sure all of you are safe. Everything else is secondary to that."

"But the colonel is right," Archer replied. "Speaking from a logical standpoint, walking into a trap such as this against such formidable opposition is foolhardy. It should be the last option…."

"Archer!" Rin snapped, aghast.

Overcast sighed and motioned for peace. "The colonel and Archer are just speaking _strictly_ logically," he pleaded. "They aren't _suggesting_ such a course; just stating that most prudent course from the get-go."

"That is the truth," Jade sighed. "I _do_ realize that we can't abandon Miss Yoshida Kazumi. It was simply more wishful thinking than anything…."

"But what are they really after?" Tear demanded of the colonel. "They don't seem to actually be after the Mahora students, they already have the Tartarus…why would they resort to kidnapping Kazumi and using her as bait to lure us in?"

Jade was silent for several moments. "Archer, you say that the man whom you fought was called 'Dist'?"

"Yes…that is what he called himself: Dist the Rose."

"'Dist the Rose'," Jade repeated, almost in a snicker. "Well, his presence sheds a little more light on things." He paused again, and finally said, "I, more than the rest of you, am their real objective. Or my knowledge. I…can't say anything more right now. I've been involved in a great deal of magic and MagiTech research since my youth, and some of my secrets are…things I'm not proud of. And Van seems to want to get his hands on it."

"We won't ask more than that," Rin said curtly. "We don't need to know anything about your secrets right now."

Tear nodded. "Agreed. The only thing we need to do is find and rescue Kazumi. The rest of it will sort itself out."

With a final sigh and adjustment of his spectacles, Jade turned to the McGoverns. "And so there you have it, sirs. If you'll excuse us, we have a solemn duty to perform. We'll try to make it back to Grand Chokma after this; if you can, please send word to his Majesty."

"Of course," the younger McGovern replied somewhat gruffly. "We'll do what we can. You just make sure to do what you have to."

There was no more to be said. The group turned and headed out, with the sole purpose of rescuing one of their own.

8-8-8

Van examined the card carefully, holding it up to the light of the just-awakened dawn. "How curious," he intoned. "It changes back to its card form when it is taken from its owner. A natural defense mechanism, I assume…."

"Hey, Van, if you ever want to know more about them, you know who to ask. I could always hook you up with some contracts of your own if you're interested in them…."

Van glanced over as the black rodent-like figure of Alvaris manifested on the table next to him. The table was one of many simple but generous adornments on this otherwise empty flat roof at the top of the great mansion. There were chairs around the table, to one of them was tied the figure of Kazumi. She sat with her head bowed, remaining mostly still, but every once in a while she shivered in fright, showing that she was awake and conscious of her predicament.

"Alvaris," Van said dismissively. "Well, as useful as your talents are, your pressure is unbecoming. If I have need of your skills, I'll call on you…."

"Yeah, sure you will." The magical spirit smirked. "In any case, since you're wondering, it _is_ possible for someone else to use an artifact provided by a contract, but they either have to be related or connected to it in some way, or the owner has to subconsciously and sincerely regard them as a friend and ally. It's a very handy defense mechanism, especially since it relies on the psyche of the owner to enforce the rule. In other words, using my power is the only way to score artifacts for yourself…."

Van snorted and again examined the card. His attention seemed drawn to it. "You really interested in that?" Alvaris pressed, causing even Kazumi to look up, curious.

"As simple as an artifact as this is, it holds great power," Van replied. "However, mostly, I simply find it ironic that the power it grants is very close to the natural power of Aeli Kanna. You must feel honored, Yoshida Kazumi."

"Aeli…Kanna…?"

Van turned to her, one eyebrow raised. "Oh? You do not recognize the name of Queen Aeli Kanna, last ruler of Kanev, better known as the Queen of Calamity? What a surprise. As a companion of Kain Lockeheart, I thought you would know all about her…."

Alvaris snickered. "They haven't told the kid anything, and they've told all his girlies even less. You know as well as anyone that even speaking the queen's name now is practically a crime…and, just for security purposes, the Magic Council around Kain always adhered to that rule."

"Of course. I should have guessed as much." He shook his head and put the card down on the table next to Kazumi. "If we separate this too far from its owner, the contracted spirit will be alerted, correct?" The spirit gave a slight bob of his head, a nod. "I'd rather avoid getting any others involved if I can…it might make things messy."

And, fully turning his attention back to the rodent, he demanded, "In any case, why did you come here, Alvaris? I doubt you wandered into an eminent battle scene just to press your services onto me again."

Alvaris sighed. "It's horrible, you know…we have so many different activities going on that I've been reduced to the role of a messenger spirit. Me! A great and powerful spirit of magic bindings and contracts! Forced into servitude, passing notes like some mere familiar…."

"Get on with it," Van growled, not amused by the little figure's melodrama.

"Most of Kain's little harem has been found. They're scattered across the landscape in ones or twos like this little lady here and her friend. Nagi's been trying to grab the Crystal Princess, but that hasn't been going well…like these ones, they got help from the other side."

"Mahora did well to foresee our actions and send support through before our assault on the gates," Van commented. "Any word on Meia Gisborn and Takamichi Takahata? They are the ones to be concerned about…."

"Not yet. That might be more worrisome. Takamichi, of course, was Kalan's companion, and few other Mahora masters were as well-briefed about everything as Meia. But the three brothers, while fiddling around out east, have acquired the necessary ingredients for the Obsidian Heart, at great personal cost. How goes your quest for your puppet paradise?"

"We shall see. The key is on his way…we just have to persuade him to unlock the vault.…"

"Van…they've arrived."

Van turned as Arietta approached, still holding the massive stuffed animal in her arms. "Hmm. What impeccable timing. Very well…it's time to begin…."

Alvaris chuckled. "And that means it's my turn to vamoose! Have fun!" And he vanished.

Van smiled after the rodent, and then turned to another corner of the roof. "Dist! Stop sulking and prepare yourself! If you want revenge, now is the time to take it."

The massive chair turned around and Dist raised himself from his slump. "Revenge? Ooooohh, yes! But…revenge on the foul traitor Jade, first, or that spirit that destroyed my precious Kaiser Dist? I just don't know…."

"Go and meet them at the entrance with your friends, Arietta," Van informed her, ignoring Dist's further rantings. "Show them just how serious the situation is…."

8-8-8

As they crested the hill, the party paused and observed the mansion before them. "What a creepy-looking place," Kiami said almost with relish. "I think it's giving me the willies."

"It certainly could use some redecorating and refurbishing," Overcast agreed. "Even a bit of good housekeeping would do wonders for it."

The building _was_ run-down and decrepit-looking, and the creepy atmosphere was promoted by its dark colors and great size.

"We better be careful," Jade pointed out cheerfully. "There might be ghosts or poltergeists haunting a mansion like this."

"G-ghosts?" Mei squeaked, gazing wide-eyed at the place.

"D-don't play around. T-there's nothing of sort in there," Tear insisted.

A few gazes went her way. Mei's trepidation was, perhaps, to be expected, but the nervousness creeping into the voice of the steel-nerved Tear was surprising. "W-what?" she demanded as she felt the gazes on her.

"How interesting…" Kiami murmured. "Tear- _senpai_ is…afraid of ghosts?"

"D-don't be ridiculous!" Tear snapped, striding for the door…and minimizing her shaking. "Let's get this over with. We have to rescue Kazumi."

Rin followed after her friend with a sigh, and Mei nervously hurried after the two of them. Jade pushed at his glasses again. "How interesting. This trip could have opportunities for fun, no?"

"Ah, perhaps under different circumstances," Overcast said. "For now, sir, I think our business is a little urgent…."

"Yes, yes…we better follow them…."

They paused at the large double doors that served as the entrance to the mansion. "Shall we knock?" Kiami asked as the group surveyed it.

"Lieutenant, please knock," Jade instructed. Overcast nodded, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers. A blast of wind came flying by them and slammed into the doors, throwing them banging open.

Rin and Tear started from the display while Mei just shrieked. "That was a little extreme, wasn't it?" Rin demanded angrily.

"So they know we're here," Jade replied nonchalantly. "Of course, I doubt that was a secret. Let's go in, shall we?"

They entered the dark interior. As they prepared magic to light up the room, it suddenly lit on its own, from lamps along the wall and chandeliers high above. It was a great entrance chamber, over twenty feet to its ceiling, with doors off to the left and right, and staircases along each wall leading up to other doors on the same side. The back of the chamber was already up several feet, raised by a slight set of steps in front of it, and standing in the middle of it was a girl in a black dress with salmon-colored hair, holding a large, ragged stuffed animal.

They fell silent and observed her carefully. "I see…are you the doorkeeper, young miss?" Jade asked of Arietta.

"You won't get past here," Arietta said softly. She raised her toy up in both hands. "Get them!"

A large blue hawk-like bird and a large feline burst from the shadows and came hurtling towards the group, scattering them. Arietta, still with her toy raised, began to chant, and a blast of magic accompanied the attacks of her creatures.

"We can't waste time here," Jade insisted. "We can't play the games they've set up, or we'll be playing right into their hands."

"P-please," Mei said softly, then put a hand to the ground. An explosion of light and mist obscured the party. The eyes of their opponents were blinded, and when the dazzle faded, the mist remained for several seconds more; the bird and cat hovered and paced around the mist while Arietta eyed it warily, waiting for the break.

Finally the mist cleared, and only Mei remained behind. She brandished her broom. _('I-I've never had to fight on my own before…but…I was chosen for this mission, too…I have to pull my own weight….')_

"I am your opponent!" she insisted aloud. "Come!"

8-8-8

Jade pelted through the halls alongside Rin and Tear. "We've been separated from the others. How many stayed behind?"

Archer materialized alongside the trio. "Only Mei- _chan_ stayed behind. The other two went another direction. Do we try to go back for any of them?"

"Mei can take care of herself," Tear insisted levelly. "She's young, but she has great talents. That's the reason she was chosen for this mission."

"Overcast as well," Jade commented. "He and Miss Tsukimori are both exceptional. All we can do is find and rescue Miss Yoshida, and then try to meet up again. Splitting up is dangerous, but taking too much time and allowing them to set traps for us is equally dangerous. We'll have to trust each other to handle ourselves."

Soon after this statement, a blast of lightning tore through the hall in front of them. They all dodged aside nimbly as Ryuryu appeared behind her spell strike.

"You do not seem very fond of our hospitality," Ryuryu commented pleasantly. "Why don't you slow down a little? I'm sure we have lots to talk about…."

"By all means, talk away," Jade commented, pushing at his glasses as he rose. "Telling us where Yoshida- _san_ is would be an excellent start."

"I'm afraid that we can't quite share that information yet…right, Kairen?"

Ryuryu's sister walked into view behind the group, flexing her claws on both hands. She watched the group silently.

Archer chuckled. "'Trust each other to handle ourselves', is it?" he said. He kicked open a door behind him. "Why don't you three continue on? I'll entertain these ladies…."

Jade smirked. "Well, feel free." With a gesture to beckon Rin and Tear, he slipped through the door, and the pair quickly followed.

Ryuryu and Kairen rushed in to try and stop the three, but suddenly the world around them shattered. It broke to pieces, peeling away to reveal a new world of white and black sand and dark, sullen skies of blood. Gears turned in the air around them and swords dotted the landscape.

"A…reality marble!?" Ryuryu cried in shock, glancing around them. "Such incredible magical power…who are earth are you!?"

"I'm sorry I cannot be a proper host and introduce myself properly," Archer evenly, taking a pair of swords from the ground. "Nonetheless I welcome you…to the Unlimited Bladeworks." Readying his new weapons, he charged towards his foes….

8-8-8

"Just us two? What a shame," Kiami commented as she and Overcast made their own way through the mansion's many corridors and tried to make their way up. "Still, under other circumstances, a date might be pleasant…."

"Perhaps we'll have to keep that in mind," Overcast agreed. "For now, why don't we find your friend and see if we can escape with our skins?"

"Sounds good to me. This place doesn't seem to have much of a basement, so I figure they must be keeping her somewhere else, like the roof. So, we definitely need to go up."

"Really? What's your basis for that belief? Women's intuition?"

"Of course. And this badge." Kiami held up the White Wing pin. "It's telling me she's up there…unless for some reason the goons took it off her and left it lying around. I doubt they'd notice something this innocent and simple."

"What is that exactly?"

"Our group's signature. After Alyssa gave us these badges, I figured that there was something more to them all, so I pestered our resident scientist, Caria, until she spilled. Sure enough, she made them…and she told me all about how they work. You can use them to locate all the other badges. It would have been useful if they'd explained this to us before we left, of course…."

"Well, I suppose that will make things easier." They stopped at the top of the stairs they'd been climbing and examined the door before them. Overcast reached for the handle. "Well, let's see what's behind this one, shall we?"

They moved into the chamber beyond…and stared in wonder. It was some kind of laboratory, with a pair of strange capsule-like apparatuses in the depressed center of the chamber, and a computer of some sort along the north wall. Kiami whistled. "Well…this doesn't look like anything normal…what kind of rich folks were these?"

Overcast went down into the depression and examined the capsules. "These…I hope this isn't what I think it is…."

A laugh suddenly sounded overhead. They glance up as Dist's elaborate chair floated into view. "That's right! Well, actually we've redecorated this place. The old equipment that this place was originally built for were thrown out, and we put in some of our own devices…ones that we can use once Jade finally gives over his secrets…."

"Doctor Saphir Gneiss," Overcast replied. "So it is you. What are you planning? Are you really still obsessed with that old failed technology? It's useless to continue any further…."

"Failed!?" Dist spat, his face contorted in rage. "Useless!? What do know about it, worm!? It is not useless! Once we finally wring the missing data out of that cowardly traitor Jade, we will have all we need to complete the art of Replication. And then, she can be reborn…."

"I'm afraid that Overcast is right," Jade interrupted, suddenly appearing from a room on the opposite of the chamber. "That old technology is useless. Your dream can never come true, Saphir."

Dist rounded on the man. "Shut up! You've just given up! You just don't care about Professor Nebillim anymore! But I won't fail where you did! Now just hand over all the data on Replication that you have! I know you have it with you! You _will_ help me finish my quest!"

Jade sighed and adjusted his glasses. "I could almost feel sorry for you, you poor deluded animal. There is nothing I have to give you…but I'll give you more mercy than you deserve, and put you down."

He manifested his spear, and the others, on cue, readied themselves. Dist growled in rage again. "Go, Kaiser Dist DX! Smash them all!"

A massive, roundish machine, similar to the one Archer had fought the night before, smashed through the floor and settled on the south side of the room. The primary difference between the original and this one was the four arms, equipped with cannon barrels, that emerged at ninety-degree angles from the body.

As it began to point its cannons at its various enemies, Jade sighed and pointed a hand at the machine. "Arise, o violent waters, to rout mine enemies. Blessed Drops!" An explosion of watery bubbles burst out of the ground underneath the machine, bathing it with the magical, elemental essence of water. It began to quiver and shake as it shorted, lightning arcing along its form.

"You still haven't learned, have you, oh Dist the Runny?" Jade taunted, turning back to the stunned and twitching man. "Your machines are always so vulnerable to water. Toys like that won't be much of a threat to us…."

Dist broke and screamed. "Oh….y-y-you will pay for his, mark my words!" So saying, his chair did an about-face, and he charged through a door in the opposite wall.

"After him!" Jade insisted, and all five began to move.

Less than a minute later they were charging up a stair and emerged to light on the top of the roof. There were gathered Elaine, Vira-Lorr, Legretta…and Van, with Dist cowering behind their leader. And, behind them all, tied to her chair, was Kazumi.

" _Minna_!" the captive girl cried in delight and relief.

The two groups surveyed each other carefully. Then Van, chuckling, drew his sword and strode forward. "Well, it seems you've arrived. And you've proven more troublesome than I really expected. However, you're still disadvantaged. If you will just give me what I want, I'll return this insignificant girl to you and let you depart in peace. If not, you'll have to fall by my blade."

"Is that so? Well, first, why don't you tell me just what it is that you want?" Jade replied evenly. "I can't be a mind-reader, after all…."

"Please, don't be coy. By now it should be obvious. All I require is the information of the founder of the art of Replication. Just share a little knowledge with us, and we'll let you go…not a bad deal, now, is it?"

"Replication, you say…and just what do you intend to do with that knowledge?" Jade dropped his sarcastic tone and fixed a far more serious gaze on Van. "I don't think you really understand what you're asking about. That cockroach behind you is deluded beyond help, of course, but your sensibilities must be clearer…there was a very strong reason why I forbid any more research into that art and buried all traces of it. Just what do you hope to create with it?"

Van chuckled again. "Very well. I shall tell you. This world will soon belong to the Obsidian Star…and it will be transformed into something glorious, something of power, that they may use it for their own purposes. But humans and other mortal creatures will have their importance place in this world. And in order to properly guide those humans, a strong hand will be needed, a strong kingdom…and there is only one kingdom worthy of that. The old kingdom of Kanev, the kingdom of magic's true royalty, must be resurrected."

Jade stiffened. The look on his face was blank, verging on fear. "What? What are you talking about? You can't possibly be suggesting…."

"That's right…the lost kingdom itself, including all of its people, will be brought back. Obviously your own failures make you believe that it can't be done, but I have access to something you never had…the power of the Obsidian Star and all their magic. You have seen firsthand the extent of their power. With the magic they can provide, something of this scale is hardly impossible. But they do not have the techniques…only you possess the perfect knowledge. Only you, who first fashioned the theory of Replication when you were but a child, have the skills necessary to make this a reality."

"You can't be serious!" Tear interjected, stepping forward. "Brother, listen to reason! That past you're obsessed with…it's gone! It can't come back! Would you really sacrifice this world for that empty dream!?"

"Sacrifice this world?" Van repeated, disgust oozing out of his voice. "Why should that concern me? After Kanev was sacrificed so easily for the sake of the world? It is simply poetic justice. Land, people, and even its beloved queen, who was forced to make the sacrifice for the sake of the entire world, who was martyred by the very people she saved. You talk as if this world is worth saving, Tear…but it isn't. Don't waste any part of yourself for the sake of this twisted world gone astray. You belong here, with us…."

Tear shook her head and raised her staff. "Never. If Queen Aeli Kanna believed that this world was worth saving, even if it would cost her life…than it certainly is worth protecting. Wake up, Van! If you would only open your eyes, you would see that there is still plenty here and on Earth that is worth saving. We can't rely on a promise of paradise when it means the sacrifice of so much!"

Van sighed and raised his sword. "It seems we are at an impasse. If you will not see the light, I have no choice but to use force. I'll try to make this as painless as possible." He suddenly dashed forward….

Overcast moved to intercept him. He blocked the sword with his hand, magical power streaming off of him. Van stared at him. "Interesting tricks, boy. How much of that do you have on you?"

"Enough," Overcast replied as Van shoved him back. Kiami and Rin jumped in to fill the gap. Kiami struck with a pair of _kunai_ , occupying his sword, while Rin removed a handful of jewels from her pocket and began to chant in German. Kiami withdrew to allow Rin to throw her missiles, and they all exploded in fire.

As Van emerged with only minor burns from the flame, Jade and Tear were ready with their spells.

"Prism Sword!"

"Divine Lance!"

The two weapons of light fell upon Van, but he met them with his blade and magical energy strained against them. Finally he threw them both off and smiled. "Not bad…but now it's my turn.

"Such lamentation! I'll destroy you! Imperial Slaughter!"

Beams of light suddenly exploded around the five, and he began to half-fade as he moved with instant speed through the group. More blades of light accompanied his travels, and, paralyzed the five felt as if they were being pierced from all sides.

Finally the technique finished, and the five were thrown backwards to the edge of the roof. They were all kneeling or crouching, panting from the shock of the attack. "Goodness…he's strong," Overcast noted. "Well, do we have any more ideas?"

Van held his sword low and extended a hand. "Come, then, if you will. That can't be all you have…."

Jade stood and pushed at his glasses. "So…is this the real power of the Obsidian Star, then? It certainly will take more than a half-hearted effort to pass this…." Suddenly he glanced up into the sky. "And…what is that…?"

All eyes on the roof turned heavenward as a flying ship, quite round with a thin long tail and two wings dropped out of the skies to suddenly hover mere meters from the roof. A moment later Akari, Rei, and Delryn alighted just in front of Kazumi.

"It looks like fun!" Akari declared, readying herself. "Someone want to let me join in!?"

Kiami smiled. "Akari…and I thought I was the one for grand entrances."

"Friends of yours?" Overcast murmured.

"Two out of three," Kiami continued. "And the third seems friendly enough."

"These are now under our protection," Rei said softly, indicating the entire group with a generous sweep. "I suggest you relent and flee, unless you wish to be harmed."

On cue, she, Akari, and Delryn all released their energy, creating a surge of demonstrated power. A moment later, Archer appeared next to Rin, with Mei hanging under one arm. "Hmm…well, it would seem…that things are getting interesting here…."

"Mei!" Rin cried, moving to the pair. "Archer, is she…?"

"Just drained, mostly," the spirit replied with a smile, not taking his eyes off of Van Grants. "She made a fine showing for herself. She's in better shape than her opponent, or the girl's two pets."

"Things _have_ certainly become interesting, don't you think?" Jade announced, his eyes swiveling between Van and the ship above. "I'm afraid that I won't be able to give you anything. What do you have to say about that now?"

As Van considered the new battle odds, Jade continued, "And to help you make your decision….

"O admonishing melody, arise in the name of the Necromancer! Mystic Cage!"

An enormous explosion of light enveloped Van and his allies. Jade's compatriots fell back away from it, and Akari, Rei, and Delryn recognized the power instinctively and grabbed Kazumi and hit the dirt.

And then they noticed the bottom of the ship dropping out and forming a platform to the north of the roof. Jade and the rest didn't hesitate for a moment or wait for Van and the rest to recover. They hurried onto it, some of them carrying others, and the instant all were aboard it shot back up to reconnect with the ship. Then the ship turned and sped back off into the sky away.

Van finally rose and stared after it. The rest did the same. Elaine glanced back as Kairen and Ryuryu, looking rather the worse for wear, finally arrived on the roof. She smiled and gazed after them. "They hardly seem like the same naïve children we encountered at the Gateport. They might become some truly terrible foes in the future…."

"With some of the allies they've gathered, they already have," Van replied evenly. "Well…we shall meet again…."

Nanami and Ami glanced from the controls towards the group as they all arrived up on the bridge. "Well…what a merry gathering this is. Tear- _senpai_ …good to see you made it. Rin- _senpai_ , Mei- _chan_ …how good of you to join us…and these…?"

They introduced themselves, and all those around reciprocated. Tear glanced around in the midst of all these introductions. "This ship…" she murmured. "It's…unusual…where did you get it?"

"Let's just say it's thanks to Kain- _sensei_ ," Nanami replied easily. "Hearing that you're all right will cheer him up, I think. Well, I guess I better pass on what's happened…."

The _El-Hazard_ sailed on through the sky, now laden with passengers, preparing for the next destination….

F I N

 _Author's Note: Character Introduction: Archer, Dist, and Arietta_

 _A chapter a little longer than I wanted, that I could have dragged longer by showing or adding some more fights between all of these. A rather big problem with these more snap-shottish side chapters…with so many characters I've got, not wanting to dwell too much on them makes it so difficult to have everything without it growing too big…._

 _Ah, well. It's a problem I've long since embraced, and so I'm running with it. The party is gathering, so everything is coming together. This will be all of this group for a while…one more group to go in this Act…_

 _Archer was introduced the last chapter with this group, but so minorly, with so many other characters introduced and getting involved in the dialogue, he fell by the wayside. Here he gets to shine and show some of his cool tricks. Archer is Rin's Servant in Fate/Stay Night, and so I decided to give her family the tendency to summon magic spirits so that he could appear. I adopted their history from the Fate/Stay universe, keeping most of the facts straight but putting it in context with the spiritual side of the universe (given from Bleach) and having it be a mage ability non-dependant on the Holy Grail. Archer is, originally, the future spirit hero self of the protagonist, Shiro Emiya, with amnesia for all the reasons given in the text. He's an interesting hero, with some jaded sentiments but a smattering of his old heroic ideals still lingering in his soul. His identity in this universe…perhaps we will see eventually, heh hehe. For now, he is merely Rin's spirit, a master swordsman and, yes, archer. He will be a good mostly on the sideline companion for the group._

 _B ehold the fruity Dist! This guy is one of the funniest villains I've seen in video games…half tragic and half loony. I decided that I had to have Van's motives at least somewhat similar to his plan in the original—using Fomicry (Replication, as I've called it here) to recreate his destroyed homeland—and that meant bringing back Jade's secrets after all, and that meant bringing in Dist. No tragedy doing that. Dist is a hilarious villain with an unfortunate accident of pink hair and this constant reclining image. He and Jade grew up in Keterburg under the tutelage of Professor Nebillim, a former master mage of the military, since retired, who died saving them from an experiment of Jade's gone awry. Jade then compounded the mistake by trying to use Replication, his art of magically copying objects, to recreate her in order to 'resurrect' her. This went even more terribly wrong, and the out-of-control clone went totally berserk and had to be destroyed. Dist, however, never gave up the quest to resurrect the professor, and fell away to the dark side in his attempts to bring it about. Jade always saw him as an annoying tag-along before, and now has wiped his hands of him. Dist's machines were the bosses you fought in TotA, and they were usually much more dangerous than I demonstrated here…but I didn't want to clog up this already long chapter with a comedy relief character's minions, so I just toasted them._

 _A nd Arietta is another one of the six 'God-Generals', the lieutenants of Van, from TotA. In the original, she was a child from Van's land's sister island, which was destroyed along with Hod, and was rescued as a baby and raised by ligers (the catlike race I mentioned here) before she was found by Van and turned over to Fon Master Ion (the original). Because of this, she must be around 16, but she seems to be closer to her rival, Anise's age (13), and so I've given her this lesser age in mine. I was going to perhaps touch her history but didn't really get time—in this version, she is similarly raised by monsters up to the point that Van found her, because her land was destroyed by a conquering army (probably Dalkia's). Being raised by monsters has given her the ability to communicate with them, and so she is always accompanied by a liger and a war raptor of some sort (the blue one described). I created her to be a scout and she was actually supposed to kidnap Kazumi, but I ended up giving that job to Ryuryu and Kairen so they'd have a part. Still, she made a nice opponent for shy little Mei to battle (off-camera, but oh well). I may perhaps go more into her past later, but…with all these villains, she likely won't stand out too much._

 _Jade will probably sometime have to explain his past to his associates here, about Professor Nebillim and his attempts to bring her back, and how his efforts to research Replication gave him the name 'The Necromancer'. I kind of left it out for now, but that's okay…Jade should be a significant enough presence even in the future to have opportunity to report it._

 _Well, that's enough for this group. Now it's time for Hikaru's group to finish up, and then we're done with Act 10! Onward!_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Eight: The Allies of Convenience

Aerie was a very pleasant companion, and quite a dichotomy with her guardian, Minsc. She was shy and unsure of herself, especially when it came to dealing with others, stuttering and finding it difficult to speak—quite the opposite of Minsc's loud boisterousness. Part of it, Hikaru suspected, arose from the painful past she revealed to him—that she was an Avariel, a winged elf, and that her explorations of the lands of the landbound (forbidden lands to her people) led to her capture by some human slavers. She was sold to a circus and kept in a cage as a novelty, until her wings rotted from atrophy. Once they were surgically removed in order to save her life, she was no longer of any use to the circus, and, without any way to return home, was left as a lowly servant to the troupe. At least until Minsc had stumbled into her life. Aerie didn't share all the details of their meeting, but somehow she went from the circus to Minsc's village in the north, and was adopted by the people as one of them. Her talents with magic led her to becoming one of their witches, and so she became Minsc's witch as he traveled about to complete his _djemma_ , his warrior's journey.

She was also sympathetic to Hikaru's plight, and, after he had explained all of his matters to his new companions, they had both readily agreed to assist him until he had finally met up with his comrades and returned home.

"To be falsely accused by villainous fiends!" Minsc opined. "Oh tragedy! Minsc and Boo and Aerie will certainly stand as stalwart friends of the brave Hikaru and aid him in return for the help he has given in rescuing our witch! Any who stand in our way shall feel my righteous steel in their hearts!"

And so with this encouraging thought, they continued to travel for clues…until the day of the grand announcement.

"I-it's good that you finally got word like this," Aerie commented. "Y-you know…where your friend Kain Lockeheart is heading, right? S-so we should be able to meet up with him in Orimus. B-but you know…it's still surprising…that you're friends with the son of the Grand Archmage…."

And so they began the journey to the ruined capital…and found themselves standing in front of a rather foreboding forest.

"Is this really the way?" Hikaru asked without much hope. "There isn't any way to go around?"

The only land route through this northern waste to Orimus lay through a forest that, just by it's name, didn't comfort Hikaru at all: 'The Dread Woods'. The trees seemed inhospitable and mystic even to his magic-ignorant eyes, he didn't relish the thought of spending any time in them. He had been raised, as has been noted, to survive most anything, but something like this….

"T-there isn't," Aerie said, almost with a sigh. "W-we could take a ship, but…considering your…position…we might run into trouble, and we'd have nowhere to run to. We could try to make it to Avalon and pass wide around them via the main continent, b-but…that might take too long…and be just as dangerous…."

"Bounty hunters, or dark things man was not meant to know," Hikaru muttered. "Well, if it saves time, I guess it's what we'll have to do…."

"Never fear!" Minsc assured him. "Minsc's righteous fury will put to bed any dark creepies or things that go bump in the night that inhabit this dark wood! All unnatural monstrosities will prove no obstacle to our noble quest!"

"It's clear that as an ally of justice I have a long way to go," Hikaru replied with a chuckle. "I'd give an arm for a measure of your fearlessness, Minsc. But you are right. If he have to go forward, we'll just have to defeat anything that gets in our way. Let's go."

8-8-8

They traveled through the dark and twisted forest, finding what paths they could. It was very slow going, as the growth choked and confined the very air, turning the entire mass into a maze. Even light magic couldn't seem to fully dispel the gloom, and the tension in the air was ever-present.

"It's hard to know how far we've managed to even travel today," Hikaru remarked as the darkness came and they had to stop for the night. "And I don't know if I feel better or worse that nothing attacked us all during the day…."

"It is outrageous!" Minsc replied, voicing his own sentiments on it. "The creeping darkspawn hide in the shadows and taunt us with this darkness, but do not show their faces to us so that we can smash them with the fist of justice!"

"W-well, for now we should be grateful for the peace," Aerie attempted to soothe her gargantuan guardian. "For now, we should rest. Tomorrow…we'll see what happens then…."

Grumbling, Minsc turned his attention to setting up camp. Hikaru and Aerie joined in on their own tasks, but it wasn't long before Hikaru stopped them. "Look over there." He pointed. The other two gathered around. A light flickered in the distance, visible even through the gloom and the thickness of vegetation. "It would seem someone beat us to setting up a campfire."

Boo squeaked. "You're right, Boo," Minsc said thoughtfully. "The dark denizens of this foul place would hardly need fire for light or heat, for their eyes and hearts must be full of cold darkness. Those at that camp must be poor lost travelers such as ourselves."

"Or it could be a magical trap," Hikaru pointed out. "But…I do agree with…Boo this time. It just doesn't feel like this is supposed to be a trap."

"I-I agree," Aerie admitted. "S-shall we…go investigate?"

The group made its way through the tangle towards the light. It wasn't long before a voice caught their eyes.

"Again, a feast of sparklebunny! A third day in this foul wood is not doing wonders for my mood. Will we ever find our way out of it?"

There was an indistinct reply from another voice that they couldn't make out.

"Bah, I forgot; your mood is always the sourest, regardless. Still, this forest…." Just at that moment Hikaru and company came creeping carefully into view of the camp. Two figures leapt to their feet, noisily drawing steel.

Hikaru held up his hands. "Don't attack. We're friendly." He surveyed the pair as they warily eyed him. The foremost, the obvious speaker, was dressed in rugged but heavy and serviceable armor. It looked to have once been the glamorous armor of an important military figure, but long days of the truly rugged lifestyle of the vagabond had dulled the shine and obscured the crests, yet it appeared to retain all its strength and protective ability. His sword was heavy and broad, a weapon normally used in two hands, yet the man pointed it easily with one hand as he used the other to brace himself in preparation for a swift rise from his crouched position. The thing that stood out the most about him, however, was his hair, which also stood _up_ the most; his shocking red mane rose up and out, like a pompadour that had overgrown its boundaries and eaten the gardener.

His companion was smaller, also dressed in practical armor but of a much lighter variety, leathers that didn't look like they had ever been remarkable in any way. She was lithe and thin, smaller, Hikaru thought, than Akari or Kiami, with short blond hair in pigtails and a scar across her cheek. Her sword was much lighter and shorter than her companion's, but it was also held in one hand—in her case, the other was being employed with another weapon. Hikaru was still rather a novice with magic, but it was obvious even to him that the woman was holding some sort of spell in one hand.

It was the woman who spoke first. "Words like that will commonly hide an enemy. Give us a good reason why we shouldn't spit you where you stand."

Hikaru considered this as Aerie moved in behind him, also showing peaceful supplication, and Minsc waited behind, not quite ready to make himself vulnerable to these potential hostiles. "A reason? Considering you've been traveling in these foul woods for a while, I suppose it would be reasonable for you to be mistrustful of strangers like us. I suppose I can't honestly come up with a way that I can prove that I'm not a threat to you…but is there something I can do to prove it to you?"

The woman considered this. "Well, if you're truly willing, I suppose you could toss that sword at your side to us here. If you're really trustworthy, and you're willing to show us some vulnerability, that will go a long way towards proving your words."

The words disturbed Minsc, who hurried forward his hand on his own hilt. "What treachery is this!? What travelers would dare ask another man to disarm himself and part from his fondest tool, his sword, simply to earn a bit of trust? Do you even understand what you demand!?"

Despite Minsc's words, Hikaru gave this request some thought. Like many swordsmen, particularly those of an eastern bent, his sword was such a prized treasure that it was a gravest insult to even suggest parting from it. On the other hand, her point was valid, and Hikaru did not wish trouble this night from these travelers. Weighing his own skill against their concerns, he decided that, if this turned out to be a trick, he had enough confidence in his unarmed skills that he could hold out until the moment he was able to recover his sword. So, slowly, deliberately, he unbound his blade and tossed it lightly towards them, close enough to the fire that it was beyond his easy reach, but not far enough or with enough force that it might disturb the fire and/or serve as an apparent distraction. "There. I'm unarmed. Is that enough, or do you need more?"

The red-haired man moved forward and scooped up the curved blade with his off-hand. He inspected it. "Woah. What manner of sword is this? This curved style is strange…it's got some length, but why would you need a sword that's so thin? I have never seen its like before.

"But," he continued, glancing back at the young man, "he does seem to be a living, breathing human, and not after our lives. The walking dead do not have the imagination to play games like this."

"You always act as if that's our only concern," the woman said with a sigh, quenching her spell and sheathing her sword. "But you're right…I think these three are harmless. If they wanted to take us, they already have an advantage in numbers, after all."

Minsc calmed quickly as Hikaru's sword was returned and the trio were welcomed into the camp. The two vagabonds introduced themselves as Largo and Pirogoeth, with no other titles or places of origin. The other three responded in kind, with Minsc introducing Boo as usual.

The rodent seemed to attract Largo's bizarre attention. "Woah…isn't that a genuine miniature giant space hamster!? Sw33t [Sweet]! Go for the beer, Boo! Go for the beer!"

"Ignore him," Pirogoeth politely instructed Hikaru and Aerie as the pair began to animatedly discuss the rodent. "He's a brainless fool I've been forced to endure for some time now. Regardless, what brings you into this dread forest?"

"W-we're on our way to Orimus," Aerie replied. "Going through this wood i-is the only real way we have to reach it."

"Orimus?" the woman said with a raised eyebrow. "Never heard of it. Is it far?"

"You've never heard of it?" Aerie's eyes were wide with surprise. "I thought everyone knew about the Old Capital…."

"Old Capital…." Pirogoeth considered this. "This forest…I wonder…."

"You've been in this forest for some time?" Hikaru asked.

"Three days now," Largo grumped in reply. "No matter where or how we wander, we cannot seem to shake this accursed place. There is no game or al3 [ale] in these woods to sustain us. There is an 3vil [evil] enchantment here…."

 _('There is something about this man's speech that plays with my sense of reality,')_ Hikaru thought. _('He also seems…somewhat familiar….')_

Suddenly an unearthly howl pierced the air, and all five jumped to their feet, brandishing their weapons. Lurching into the light came a dozen human forms, their bodies patchwork amounts of skin, flesh, and bone. They raised their mangled arms and started to stumble more quickly towards them.

"Zomb13z [Zombies]!" cried Largo. "Prepare to defend yourselves!"

Aerie and Pirogoeth began to chant in separate but equally alien tongues; Pirogoeth first released a blast of fire into the midst of the oncoming swarm, turning a few to ash. Aerie finished next, and a burst of shining light shocked its way through the gloom and destroyed the presence of a couple more. Meanwhile, Largo, Minsc and Hikaru moved in to fight with their blades, cleaving various body parts and cutting the bloodless corpses to ribbons.

The others seemed grimly accepting of the scene, but for Hikaru, it was yet another completely new, surreal sensation. He was not raised in an ivory tower, and had some grasp of popular memes and themes of fantasy fiction, but to actually experience it, to put his sword against humanoid foes that did not bleed, or feel pain, or hesitate or even seem to think, was chilling to him. Still, he had been trained by some of the greatest fighters in the world, and he let his well-honed instincts do for him what his rational mind could hardly conceive, and he did his work alongside his two older companions.

In mere moments it was over, and the dozen monstrosities lay unmoving on the ground. Largo snorted. "Such a weak horde…this was no thr3at [threat]. Merely a f3int [feint]. The darkness mocks us…."

Suddenly a high-pitched laugh sounded, and one severed head turned to look at them. Its eyes lit up and it spoke. "Well said, oh empty-headed warrior. This is merely a greeting. You have trespassed upon the grounds of the lady…she will play with you before she has your blood." Then, in an explosion of dust and flame, the head vanished entirely.

The group exchanged a concerned look. "T-the lady…that sounds…" Aerie began.

"Like the vampire's master," finished Hikaru. "Oh, boy. Has she tracked us down, then?"

"A vampire?" queried Pirogoeth with a quiet mixture of interest and concern. "A true, blood-sucking vampire? You've attracted _that_ for an enemy?"

"Zounds! Our enemies mount, indeed," Largo said. "But that would explain some of the 3v11 [evil] in this place."

"Let the vampire come!" Minsc boasted. "If it wishes to feed on us, we shall give it our cold steel for its meal and see how much of a stomach ache it gets from that!"

"Squeak," said Boo.

8-8-8

They managed to get a meal down and slept, somewhat restlessly, until what passed for morning. They kept watches for safety, but nothing bothered them throughout the night.

"In this situation, we're probably better off together," Pirogoeth noted. "We can group up, at least until we get out of this foul forest—whether we have to kill a vampire or not." Her proposal was met with general agreement, and so the party of five (six including Boo) began their march anew into the forest.

Largo was animated, talkative, somewhat wild…to a degree, even more than Minsc. He complained loudly about the lack of beasts to hunt, and occasionally dashed off into woods to attack a seemingly offensive tree. Strangely, nothing attacked him when he did this, although Pirogoeth did ask their new companions (in all seriousness) if they would prefer that _she_ drop a fireball on his head to satisfy his dangerlust.

Aerie did her timid best to be sociable, discussing magical arts and secrets with Pirogoeth—after some persuading, for Pirogoeth was much quieter and more reserved than her companion, but she was agreeable enough with her level-headed fellow mage. Aerie then later attempted to calm Largo down by asking about his past, about how he and Pirogoeth met—and Largo regaled her quite cheerfully with a tale. He was a legionnaire of the army of Reaht, leading his force…in an invasion of Pirogoeth's kingdom. Just when Largo was ready to slay this queen, however, a 'Dark Horde' suddenly moved in and destroyed both the invading army and the remnants of the kingdom. Only Largo and Pirogoeth were left, and since that time they had traveled together, trying to find the evil mage behind this Dark Horde and put a stop to him.

Hikaru listened attentively to this tale, digesting it. As Orimus had been unfamiliar to the pair, so the nations and kingdoms Largo discussed were unfamiliar to Hikaru. True, he was still a relative stranger to the world of Arcanus Myrror, but the state and condition of the prevalent kingdoms had been an important part of his group's travels, both before and after the scattering, and so the alien nature of these described events and places was still puzzling. He couldn't decipher what it meant, but he knew this…disjointing of realities was important somehow.

The day once again passed without incident, until the evening when they came across a stream of water.

"This is new," Pirogoeth remarked, crouching down by the riverbed. "We haven't found so much as a spring before in all our days of fighting our way through this forest. Furthermore, this water isn't tainted—some power, small but potent, is keeping it pure. This would be a good place to rest, and perhaps tomorrow we should continue following it."

Agreed, the party began to set up camp. Heartened somewhat by this good omen of a water source, they prepared a more significant meal and passed the evening more at ease, swapping more tales and actually considering if an escape from the place was imminent. The nearly invisible sun had set and the moon had well risen before they considered bunking down for the night.

Hikaru actually took a stroll away from the camp along the riverbed, considering matters—in truth, his initial foray was to answer the call of nature, but after this duty was done, he decided that the situation was good enough to allow him a brief moment of indulgence. The whole region of forest around the small river seemed completely different—there was even a decent opening in the canopy overhead, allowing the moon's full light to shed itself over him. He gave it some consideration; he had learned that the lunar cycle of this world was longer than that of Earth, and so a moon like this was all the more precious and beautiful. Like all Japanese people, the pieces of his name were important to him, and the 'Tsuki' in his family name was translated as 'moon'—in fact, his full name could be rendered roughly as 'moonlight', and so he felt a kinship with the heavenly orb….

A rustle in the bushes attracted his attention, and his hand went to his sword. He briefly wondered how a threat could have gotten so close before realizing that there was no threat here, at least none that his warrior's senses could decipher—no bloodlust he could sense, no smell of death and decay, just a sound…now, a low growl that was partly animalistic and partly…sultry? Curious, he took a few careful steps toward the bush….

"Oh, a charming young man," the growl said in a comprehensible slur. "So…might you be willing to help me pass my energy this evening…?"

As Hikaru froze, trying to translate the meaning of these bizarre words, a form leapt out of the bushes and tackled him, dropping him to the ground.

Again, the lack of true killing intent dulled his normally sharp warrior senses and reflexes, and he was completely taken aback by the incomprehensible nature of this assault. The attacker was a woman, perhaps in her early twenties, quite comely, with long dark blond hair…and two long fox ears emerging from her head and a bushy foxtail flickering from her rear. She wore a black dress that was cut generously low, giving Hikaru a healthy view, and she had the assets to make the view more than appreciable. And the purpose of her attack was tentatively given as she immediately leaned her face in to kiss Hikaru fully on the lips.

Hikaru was a young teenager, about fifteen years of age, one raised by the most gentle and upright masters who nonetheless could be brutal when they felt the need—the perfect recipe for ensuring a moral straightness (along with two attractive female childhood friends who could respond lethally to perceived _ecchi_ thoughts). Nonetheless, he _was_ a healthy young man, a normal human, and so while he did not engage in any of the usual teenage sexual fantasies and the like, he was perfectly susceptible to the sexuality that this strange creature was assaulting him with. He had been given many lessons, particularly by his master Serge Devaux, about 'how to treat ladies' and/or 'how to deal with girls', but, even with the broader lessons granted by his constant sparring with two beautiful girls his age, he had nothing in his experience to deal with the scenario 'a voluptuous female of a slightly alien persuasion assaults you with the intent to romance'.

She sat on his prone from and held his hands down as she released her kiss. She began to explore the area around his face and neck with her mouth, kissing and nipping, and making rather bestial growls all the while. In the midst of this assault, Hikaru was mostly frozen, but finally one fact registered on his conscious mind and helped bring his cool warrior focus back: he recognized this girl. Only vaguely, and not directly, but she was one of the faces he had seen in that moment that was burned into his memory: the day of the attack on the Gateport, when his friends had all been scattered. This mostly-human woman was one of those who had attacked the party.

"W-wait a minute!" he gasped as he got his faculties and body back under his control. "You—you are one of Eminus' minions, aren't you!? Why…what are you doing here!?"

The woman paused her action and raised her head, looking down curiously at Hikaru for a few seconds. He carefully began to probe his predicament now that he had his senses, with care and not desperation, and was astounded at how strong and controlled her grip was—despite her lack of great mass, her hands were clamped around his wrists like vices and could not be budged. In her eyes there was curiosity, and, Hikaru noted, just a touch of madness—some light that wasn't normal human consciousness.

"Oh," she said finally, "you are one of those children from back then. Well, you're a little young, but we can still have fun enjoying my passions tonight…."

"No! More than that…is this something you should be doing with your enemy?"

"Oh, that doesn't matter right now! The fire burning in my breast is ready to consume me! I must…."

Finally a few figure burst into view from the same direction that the woman had leapt. "Sherufanir!" the girl snapped out. "What are you doing!? Get off of him!"

"But, Ellis- _chan_ , you know what time it is…I _must_ do something about these feelings inside of me!"

The newcomer was also familiar to Hikaru—she had been at that same event. Short with long pink hair in pigtails, tall, sharp elf ears, and a more modest white pseudo-dress with adornments and odd bonnet (which dress nonetheless could not conceal her own assets), she had a unique appearance all her own. Ellis sighed. "Yes, I'm well aware about the conditions inherent to your race, Sherufanir, but you can't go assaulting travelers like this! It's wrong! Not to mention that we are in a dangerous place with an important duty to perform." A hulking shape, again familiar, came stomping up behind her, she continued, "Borgnine, please remove Sherufanir from her victim and take her back to camp."

The ogre-like beast, purple-skinned, dressed in midnight-colored armor with long white hair, complied, pulling the protesting woman effortlessly from off of Hikaru and then thundering away. Ellis smiled politely at the young man on the ground, even as he stared up at her warily. "I'm sorry about that, sir. Sherufanir is a half-neocolom, and they get…frisky at the time of the full moon. Their animal side takes over, and all that…are you all right?" She leaned down and extended a hand to him.

Hikaru merely stared at her, leaning up enough to be ready to rise, but he did not take the hand. "I'm not sure whether I should be grateful or not," he said quietly.

"A-aha, y-yes, lots of men that Sherufanir…bothers…say things like that…" Ellis began, but then she really looked at the young man underfoot and the light dawned. Her face became a very expressive demonstration of surprise and she exclaimed. "W-wait, you're…one of those kids!"

"Yes…one of those kids. And what is the Obsidian Star doing here?" Hikaru made a masterful leap to his feet, pushing himself away so there was some distance between the pair. He leaned forward and put his hand to his sword hilt as he finished his question.

Ellis sighed. "This is not a complication that I wanted." She gave him a look of almost petulance through half-closed eyelids. "If you really want a fight, I'll give it to you, but I'd really prefer not to right now. I think, in this situation, we should be cooperating."

Hikaru considered her words carefully. "You aren't behind the darkness of this forest, then?"

"No, not at all. We've come here to deal with it. The threat here is a real danger to both of us…."

"Hikaru? Where are you?" Minsc suddenly burst onto the scene. He glanced between Hikaru and Ellis in surprise. "Oh? What is this! Has Hikaru found a damsel in distress in this forest? Oh, how his valiance never fades, even in this place surrounded by darkness…."

"That's not exactly it," Hikaru muttered as Ellis gave him a questioning look. He returned Ellis' stare and continued, "I suppose we should gather everyone together…both sides…so that we can discuss 'this situation'…."

8-8-8

The two gathered groups stared at each other. For Hikaru, the only member of the opposing four he didn't recognize was the tall raven-haired man in the coat. Sherufanir swayed as she stood, keeping herself in place but with that madness still evident in her eyes. Borgnine stood silently to her flank, apparently ready to grab her at a moment's notice, and Ellis stood in front, resignedly absorbing the suspicious stares of the other party.

"So, what is this about?" Pirogoeth asked to break the silence. "Who are these people?"

"My enemies," Hikaru answered quietly. "The Obsidian Star."

"Enemies?" demanded Minsc in surprise. "But…how can this be? A charming elf girl, a friendly beast-girl, a humorous ragamuffin and a noble hulk like this are your enemies? They do not seem to be bad sorts to Minsc, or to Boo, either!"

"It's true," Ellis explained with a sigh. "We are technically enemies, but right now, that's the least of our worries—for either of us."

"What's this about, Ellis- _chan_?" Winfield asked the girl. "Who is this kid?"

"He's one of Kain Lockeheart's companions," Ellis explained wearily.

"Ah…one of the ones you messed up at Ouritel's Gateport, eh? Well, that does complicate things…."

"In any case," Ellis continued, "we're here more or less for the same purpose. There's a darkness in these woods that needs to be put down. That's what we're here for. Right now, you're the least of our concerns. I would like to propose a truce; no, an alliance. Until we safely leave this forest, we should work together. Whether you have a purpose here or simply want to leave it, it's in your best interest to take care of this as well."

"That sounds reasonable," Pirogoeth said. "Do you know something more about this darkness, then?"

"We know what it is, and where it is. We aren't very far—we should be there sometime tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about being in our presence for very long."

Largo nodded. "If you can help us destroy this evil and get out of here, we'll be more than happy to have your aid."

Aerie gave Hikaru a careful look. "Hikaru? What do you think?"

Hikaru was silent as he considered. Pirogoeth said in the face of his reluctance, "Whatever is making you hesitate, it's foolish, Hikaru. You can't be picky at times like these."

"Foolish to hesitate?" Hikaru queried carefully. "You don't know these people…."

"I don't," she insisted, cutting him off. "You're right. I don't know you much better. But I do know that they are people like us, not monsters. Largo told you our story earlier today; you were listening, right? People are rarely as monstrous as others might view them. Largo came with the intent of destroying my kingdom; it would be easy to see him as evil. You obviously have bad history with this party, but can you honestly tell me that they are worse than this darkness in the forest?" She shrugged. "They don't seem like it to me."

Hikaru sighed. He had only heard stories of the Obsidian Star and did not have much experience with them; and in all honestly, what he had been told, and what he remembered from that battle, seemed to conflict with this demure and peaceable elf-girl. However, what Pirogoeth said was true: at the moment, they were, at worst, the lesser evil. "Yes," he said finally. "Right now, I suppose we have no choice but to give you the benefit of the doubt. But if you make a move against us, you will find me a vengeful tiger."

Winfield chuckled. "You've made an interesting enemy, Ellis- _chan_! This boy _is_ pretty frightening…."

"Enough, Winfield." Ellis turned and directed her party to do the same. "It's very late. We'll return to our own camp for the night and tomorrow morning we'll go together to put an end to this darkness."

"But if Hikaru- _kun_ wants to join us, he's more than welcome…" Sherufanir said dreamily before she was hurried away by Ellis and Borgnine.

8-8-8

The enlarged party set out the next morning. Ellis led her group first, because they knew the way, and, as she said, "So that you can keep an eye on us all you like." She seemed quite resigned to the fact that Hikaru's trust was not easily gained.

Again her frankness and understanding of Hikaru's position and sentiments surprised him…and troubled him slightly as well. He had grown up with dreams of being a sword of justice, and to him the world was black and white—there were the good and the evil, and uninvolved people might walk the line, but those who served the side of evil were not supposed to be understanding, supportive and noble. What made this alien situation even worse was the fact that Ellis, the main mouthpiece of the group, seemed resigned to the fact that Hikaru was her enemy, but did not attempt to explain herself or excuse her actions in the slightest.

He kept himself close to their party, the better to keep an eye on them, as he digested all of these thoughts. To his surprise, Sherufanir fell back to speak with him…and, to his relief, she seemed far more in control of her faculties than she had the previous night.

Which, of course, was the reason for her approach. "I apologize for…our first meeting," she told him, with a mixture of coyness and cheerfulness. "As a neocolom, I am almost as much animal as human, at least at certain times…the full moon brings out the beast in me. It must have been frightening to as young a man as you."

Hikaru was once again unsure how to respond. The normal gentleman's response would be to assure her that there was no problem with her actions the previous night, as white a lie as it might be—but in this case, Hikaru felt such an assurance could be misinterpreted. "It's over with," is what he settled for. He hurried on with the comment, "That seems a most…inconvenient condition you have…."

Sherufanir giggled. "At times…but it simply makes me more honest than anything. Honesty…is something you don't have trouble with, it would seem…unless it is in your enemies?" She winked at him.

Hikaru was taken aback by this. "W-what? No…not at all…."

"Ah! And that is dishonesty. You seem a very simple, honest sort. You are a hero trying to save the world, yes? And people bent on destroying the world should not be as understanding and pretty as Ellis is, yes?"

Hikaru didn't respond; it seemed she was baiting him, and he didn't want to play her game. "If you wonder about it, you might as well ask her. It is as charming Pirogoeth- _chan_ said last night…oftentimes differences of opinion are all that lead to perceptions of evil. If it bothers you that much, you can ask her about it. Or you can simply continue hating us until one of us is defeated. It doesn't matter much in the long run, so you'll just have to do what makes you feel better." And so she wandered back up to the front of the group.

8-8-8

They paused for a mid-day meal when Ellis announced they were close to the lair of the monster they were hunting. She suggested they fill their stomachs so they could be at full strength for the upcoming battle.

Ellis again began to lead her party to a discreet distance, but Hikaru stopped her. "We might as well stick together this close to the enemy's den. After all, I would like to know anything you can tell me about our opponent."

As Ellis hesitated, Sherufanir smiled and announced, "Educate our valiant swordsman and his companions, Ellis- _chan_. I will get the dinner ready." And so she set about busying herself.

Ellis sighed and smiled slightly. "Yes, it will certainly be easier if we tell you all we know." She sat down and Hikaru settled next to her, with Pirogoeth next to him. Largo and Minsc were engaged in one of their more obscure 'warrior-friend' conversations while Aerie prepared their party's meal.

"Our opponent is a powerful vampire matriarch," Ellis told them. "She's…taking advantage of our work, to be honest. With the crisis arising from Earth being cut off from Arcanus Myrror and the upcoming Memorial Festival, the nations are generally distracted, and so she can take advantage to spread her influence and take slaves for work or food. She has a large force of vampire spawn, as well as many other necromantic minions, undead and the like. This is her true home, hence its corruption, and here she can be killed—that's why we've come here."

"And it is really magnanimous concern that has led you here to deal with her?" Hikaru demanded. "Being Good Samaritans now because you're sorry?"

His tone was calm, but the words were obviously accusing. Ellis flushed and glanced at Pirogoeth, who considered her with a far different expression. "Pirogoeth…what I'm talking about—Earth, Arcanus Myrror, Memorial Festival—they mean nothing to you, correct?"

Pirogoeth nodded. "…Yes. I've never heard of most of the places you all seem to be familiar with. That means that this vampire's power is…somehow warping worlds?"

Hikaru stared at Pirogoeth. Yes…it seemed from their conversations as if Pirogoeth and Largo were as alien to Arcanus Myrror, or more so, than he was, but that thought just didn't make sense…how was this possible…?

"Earth and Arcanus Myrror are connected worlds, one of low-mana, and one very high-mana," Ellis explained to the former queen. "I don't have the time to explain all the implications, but my faction has plans for this world that required us to cut off the travel between those two. Now Arcanus Myrror is alone, a stranded world…but Earth isn't the only other world it is connected to. This vampire's powers, the corruption she's created in this forest, are warping the fabric of reality. Because there is no outlet to Earth, these powers are breaking into this other world. The world Pirogoeth and Largo originally came from. If her powers continue to grow in this situation, she will cause a break between the two worlds and disaster to both of them."

"There was no magical gate or portal we passed through," Pirogoeth announced. "Until we traveled with Hikaru and his friends, I never suspected that we could have traveled between worlds. But that is actually promising. That means that the wood that Largo and I originally entered is…merging with this forest, in this world. Right now, we are actually, all of us, in a phased magical realm between the two worlds. It is not simply this vampire's power, but her similarity with the darkness inherent in the forest on our side, that has caused this merging. And that also means that, if we kill the vampire responsible and break her power, we should each return to our original world."

Ellis looked relieved and nodded. Evidently she was concerned with how Pirogoeth would respond to the idea that she and her friend had been torn from their plane of existence; luckily her own understanding of magic was sufficient that this matter was a simple matter to her. Pirogoeth rose and turned away. "Now, our two muscle-bound warriors are causing difficulties for Aerie, it seems. I should go help her finish. Excuse me."

Hikaru and Ellis watched her go, and then fell silent. Finally Hikaru offered, "You are…not at all what I imagined the Obsidian Star would be." As she looked at him in surprise, he continued, "You are far more…human than I would have thought. But…even more so, reasonable to a fault, it would seem."

Ellis gave a half-laugh and half-sigh. "Evil people should be sacrificing infants to demon gods and the like, right? Or they should be fanatical deranged cultists who really believe that their wicked ways are correct, and try to convert others? Even if they have good hearts, they must be deluded enough to try and convince everyone else? There certainly aren't many of us, honestly, who would willingly follow something like the Obsidian Star. I've grown up with it; I understand better than anyone just what they mean. But I understand, too, that we are the minority. Sherufanir, Winfield, all of us—those of us you've met who aren't creatures of the Obsidian Star, like Nagi, Dynamis, or Eminus- _sama_ —we are only following the Obsidian Star because we were saved by the Obsidian Star, as ironic as that sounds. I've been with him for over a dozen years, I've grown up following him, but I still don't know Eminus- _sama_ 's real, personal motives. He follows the objective of the Obsidian Star, he obeys his orders, but he travels about, emotionlessly, on his own whims. For years he went around 'collecting' people like us, mostly by accident. He visited war-torn societies and bereaved countries. Not as you'd expect an 'evil' person to do…throwing himself into the war, pain, and misery. He visited the places of battle afterwards and saved anyone who was lying living amongst the dead. Children were usually taken to the nearest available orphanage, but some of us refused to be parted from him. It's an odd…habit for someone who's part of a cult that's trying to destroy the world. But it's what he's been doing, and so most of us serve him out of loyalty and repayment."

"And yet…you talk so easily about how your 'cult' wants to 'destroy the world'."

"To save a forest, sometimes you have to burn it," Ellis explained. "Most, but not all. This world is already sick…we, whose homes were destroyed by senseless war and only live thanks to Eminus- _sama_ , we understand that better than most. We've weighed our feelings and the things we've seen and have decided that this is the only thing we can do, to try and help create a better world from the ashes of what remains. The Obsidian Star will have their part…we're just trying our best to create a better world with what comes after, for humans and all our races. Vira-Lorr, Yayoi, Luana, Ryuryu—we've all discussed it at length and have come to that agreement. But we know that there are others like Kalan Lockeheart and his son who can't accept this kind of situation. That's why I won't try to convince you to join us, or anything of the sort. I don't believe I'm right, or that you're right—we're both right in different ways, and it would be rude of me to do anything but accept the feelings you put into your blade. I sometimes wonder if it had better if I hadn't been rescued…but this is the path I'm on and the choice I've made.

"But for now, that doesn't matter. Right now, both of us want to keep this darkness from spreading and damaging this world of ours…we both need to destroy this foe. After that…who knows?" She glanced up. "It seems the food is ready. Let's eat, and then go on to the battle."

8-8-8

The group surveyed the dark fortress before them. It seemed a warped and twisted castle, constructed of dark stone, black granite intermingled with obsidian, with towers, gargoyles, high parapets and extraordinary turrets. It was also far from a traditional castle in its build—there was no moat, drawbridge, portcullis, inner courtyard, or any such usual castle accompaniment. It was closer to a castle-shaped building, just one solid piece of architecture, but it seemed disingenuous to refer to it as a mere 'mansion' or something of the sort. There was a large, arched, double-door, wooden and iron-bound, in the center of the wall facing them. As they considered it, the doors suddenly opened outward, yawning invitingly towards them.

"It seems we're expected," Hikaru noted. "Not that I expected any less."

Ellis turned and hunkered down so that she could address the group. "All right," she said. "We have to come up with a plan…it seems we have no choice but to enter through the entrance, so…."

"Well then, let us push onward! Let our singing steel cut off the throaty laughter of blood-sucking leeches!" With this ramble, Minsc, sword out, started charging down towards the castle.

"That's right! Death to l33ches [leeches]!" Largo added, charging after him, also with his steel in his hand.

Ellis turned and watched the two charging. Then she turned an open-mouthed, wide-eyed stare to the rest of the group. "D-did they just…really…?"

"Hurry, Ellis- _chan_ , or you'll get left behind!" Winfield cried, hurrying after the two mad swordsmen.

With a sigh and some kind of curse or epithet in her native tongue, Ellis started to give chase as well, with the rest at her side or even ahead of her.

They slowed down as they entered the dark abode. Minsc and Largo were at the front of the great entrance chamber, their swords shedding light, and they glanced around waiting for dark hordes or the like to jump at them. There wasn't much here at the moment—there were stairs leading up some distance, but even concentrated light revealed no door against the landing at the top of those stairs. Two short hallways to the left and right also ended in empty, bare walls.

"Hmm…it seems our mistress of this place has an odd sense of humor regarding her architecture," Sherufanir noted. "She doesn't want anyone traveling around without her whim, I would wager…."

A moment later the doors suddenly slammed shut. The next instant the lights they carried were all snuffed out. A few seconds after this, as they clamored and attempted to adjust, a bright spotlight flashed down, beaming right on top of them. _"Welcome, welcome!"_ a soft voice seemed to purr from everywhere around them. _"What an interesting collection of guests. We have…the boy from Earth…the other one. We also have…some of that Obsidian guard, or whatever they are? Even a pair that aren't from around here, and a few inconsequential others. Well, let's begin the welcoming party, shall we?"_ A blue light suddenly dimly illuminated the top ofthe stairs, revealing a throne that hadn't been there a moment before. Seated on the throne was a woman with pale, almost white-ivory skin, dressed in a revealing, almost fragmented black dress, with short black hair. The blue glow made her odd appearance all the more strange and ghostly as she considered the group…with inhuman red eyes that glowed bright, fierce and clear, even in the unnatural light. "Now, then…why don't you play with my children a little, for starters…?"

The walls to either side of them open or burst or some such thing…they could not see, but from both sides suddenly came a swarm of unnatural humanoid creatures. Most of them hairless, of pale skin, with long claws and fanged teeth, they leapt upon the reluctant allies with speed and ferocity.

Blades flashed, one gun fired, spells exploded, and the mêlée commenced. It was a long moment of insanity, and there was little the mortals could do against the horde except struggle with their might against it.

Hikaru wasn't satisfied with the status quo, however. It was obvious that these creatures—a mixture of undead he didn't recognize, with some obvious vampire spawn, all of whom seemed very resistant to damage—were going to take far too much trouble to eliminate. The one at the top of the stairs was the ringleader, obviously the 'lady' that had been responsible for their troubles for a while now. If they were going to get out of this alive, they couldn't play with the 'children' all that long….

Hikaru sheathed his sword and set himself, then made a wide swing from his draw, releasing his built-up _ki_. A half-dozen creatures leaping once again upon him were thrown back, blasted away, and Hikaru immediately stepped up the stairs and charged towards her.

The woman smiled a sharp-fanged grin as Hikaru reached her. She caught his blade as it came flashing out. "So, the little mouse wishes to play with me," she purred. "Well, perhaps you will be an amusing toy for me, Bodhi? We shall find out…."

Hikaru withdrew and sheathed his blade. "A creature of blackest night…if there is no other, then I will be the light that will disperse your darkness…."

Bodhi glanced at him askew. "…What was that? You talk as if you were some sort of drama character, some hero in a fairy tale speaking with words that will recorded for the ages. I guess you really are a child…."

Hikaru, teenager that he was, couldn't help but blush at the comment. Yes, it was his dream to be a 'hero of justice', and so he did idolize such characters…perhaps there was no thought that his words would be in an epic, but a poetic soul will wax poetic….

Bodhi suddenly charged in, sending him flying with a mighty kick. He recovered quickly and blocked her next strike, but he was soon on the defensive against her assault.

 _('So fast…so strong…she has far more power than Sendô-_ san _, even more than Hinamori-_ san _…she might be at the level of my masters….')_

A slash of Bodhi's claws cut through his guard and threw him back again. As Bodhi began to charge in pursuit, however, a blast of light energy intercepted her. "Ray!" An orb of light gathered in front of Ellis' wing-tipped staff, then started spraying more bolts Bodhi's way. She danced and dodged around the attacks, prancing like an animal.

When the spell concluded, Ellis reared her staff back and prepared another spell. Bodhi quickly stopped and launched herself Ellis' way in response. However, Hikaru suddenly appeared before her, gripping his sheathed sword. An unleashed strike forced her backwards. "Impulse!" Ellis snapped, and a blast of pure magic energy assaulted her as well.

Hikaru followed the spell in, but Bodhi slapped him aside, and then charged in at Ellis. A surge of darkness flowed from her claws, slamming against a barrier the elf-girl hurriedly raised, but it soon burst and she was thrown back. "You play well, little mice, but you're only children," Bodhi hissed. Hikaru came in at her again, and she turned to meet him. "You aren't experienced enough to play with me. Fighting, magic…you are skilled, but I have lived a long time. I am master of both."

 _('It's too true,')_ Hikaru thought as he fought off her attacks. _('It has only been a short time, and I have only caught a glimpse of how great this world of magic is. My_ ki _alone isn't enough to deal with a foe like this. If I could only grasp mana as well…perhaps I could break through her powers….')_

She beat back both Hikaru and Ellis and then rounded on the elf girl, snatching her up and holding her aloft by the throat. "You are by far the more dangerous here…ah, and you will make such a sweet little meal as well…elf-blood is so precious and rare…."

 _('P-punishment, then? Only fitting, after all….')_

As Ellis thought her despairing thoughts, Borgnine suddenly burst from the mass combat down below and descended upon the girl. "You will not hurt my master!" he roared, and began to attack her with his energy-charged attacks.

The first few blows connected with the vampire as she rounded on him, dropping Ellis, and he sent her flying across the now-crowded landing with a savage strike. He pursued her, but she once again recovered with that inhuman fortitude and began to round on him. Despite her difference in size and seeming fragility, it wasn't long before she began to turn the tables even on him.

Still, this time her foe was her equal in fortitude, and even as her claws raked him and her spells seared his inhuman flesh, he endured the blows and kept fighting.

For Ellis, it was enough. She reached out and recovered her dropped staff and pointed it Bodhi's way. She began to chant in her native elven tongue. Borgnine, well-conditioned to his master's magic and techniques, left away as she finally culminated her spell: "Shine Storm!"

The white light filled the chamber, spreading out and engulfing nearly everyone. It passed over the mortals without harming them, but the remaining undead below battling the rest of the team screamed and burned under the light. Bodhi herself disappeared in the midst of it.

The light finally faded, leaving the party behind…and Bodhi in the midst. A dark nimbus was surrounding her, which slowly faded away as she stood there, panting. She growled like an animal. "You little mice…pushing me like this…you'll pay…!"

And as she gathered power around her, Hikaru suddenly leapt into the air behind her. He held his hands on his sheathed sword, left on the scabbard, right on the grip, and both were surrounded by a nimbus of white energy. She turned slowly to him, and his sword came out in a slash of light energy. The blade tore through Bodhi's head, leaving her corpse to fall slowly to the floor. It disintegrated into black mist en route.

As the group considered this moment, panting, there was a groan and a tremble from the castle…and then everything was still.

Winfield looked around, worried, for several seconds, and then his face lit up in a smile. "Well, is that all? It looked like that was going to be dangerous for a minute. I thought the castle might collapse on top of us. Is it over?"

"Not quite," Pirogoeth said. "The greater majority of her power was destroyed with her corporeal form—Hikaru's attack was good, but true-blood vampires are notoriously hard to kill. The source of her power—probably her coffin, if all the reports are true—is still in the castle, and until it's destroyed, the warp due to her power won't heal, and there's always the possibility of her eventual return."

"It s-should be in the basement," Aerie pointed out. "Those with darker powers—vampires especially—the more dark power they accumulate, the more bound they are by the restrictions of a vampire…."

Their ability to light the room themselves returned to them, they quickly found that the previously blank side walls had opened, and one led down into a basement area. There, in a crypt-like cellar chamber, was a large black sarcophagus on a raised stand in the back.

"So this is the evil coffin, the source of the vampire's power?" Minsc demanded. "Well, let us destroy it! Foul black deeds shall be smashed from this world!" Minsc raised his sword and began to charge it gleefully.

Sherufanir tripped him, sending him sprawling. "Your enthusiasm is refreshing, dear Minsc, but against something like _that_ , even your berserker strength would be useless. It's infused with magic—only magic can break it. What do you think, Ellis- _chan_?"

The elf-girl nodded. "…It'll take quite some magic to break. I can't do it alone. Aerie? Pirogoeth? Can you help me out?"

The two blonds nodded, and all three strode forward. They raised their weapons and chanted over the bed of death, their separate alien languages making a discordant yet somehow beautiful chorus. The non-mages stood in back, watching with mixed expressions, as the magic built visibly around them.

Finally the sarcophagus began to crack, shatter, and finally burst, vanishing even as it exploded. The palpable darkness in the air that had followed them since they entered finally, slowly, methodically, began to lift, and the smell of stale, dead air retreated as well. At this same time, as they remarked upon this change, Largo and Pirogoeth began to fade away.

"Well, it seems that worked," Pirogoeth remarked. "I suppose we're going back to our original world now. It was good to travel with you, short as it was…it was nice having people to _talk_ to for once…."

"You weren't l33ches [leeches]," Largo added for his own farewell. "It was an honor to fight alongside you all. Minsc! Continue to kick the a55 of 3v1l with your mighty conscience!" With a thumbs-up accompanying him, the warrior faded alongside his sorceress companion.

"And that's that," Winfield sighed, looking around at the remaining group. "Well, now that it's finally over…now what?"

8-8-8

Hikaru sat alone, staring at his sword. The fire of the camp was only partially visible through the trees. Right now, the state of things didn't matter much one way or the other. Simply the feeling….

"There you are," came the sigh next to him. He turned to see Ellis standing by him, looking quite weary and exhausted. "You took some hard hits in that battle. Haven't you been treated yet?"

"What about you?" Hikaru retorted. "You took it worse than anyone. You should have been the first to be looked at…."

"I was. Your friend Aerie is a skilled priestess and sorceress in her own right." She raised a hand and began to chant, and light poured over his wounds.

She sighed again and sat down next to him, leaning against the tree when she had finished. "All better?" she murmured. He nodded, and she continued, "That's good. I don't think I have anything left now…."

They sat in silence for several long moments. "Aren't you going to ask me?" she finally demanded.

"No. I think, now, I finally understand. In a perfect fairy tale, of course, it's easy to know sides, good and evil, the rest—the heroes are the valiant, struggling men and women with love in their hearts, and the villains are all evil monsters like that Bodhi. But even if there's magic, this world…isn't just some fairy tale…."

"Hmm…that's right…you're rather new to this whole magic experience, aren't you?" Hikaru glanced at her, and Ellis continued, "We have tried to get information on you all, of course. It's rather surprising just how many of you, of Kain Lockeheart's party, knew nothing about magic until this past year…six months, really. Still, for a novice at magic, you're surprisingly strong…and that finish there was quite impressive. You saved us all, I think. No one else was in better shape to deal with her at the end there, either…."

"No, that was just luck." Hikaru glanced at his sword again as he held it up. "I'd never done something like that before, and I don't know if I could do it again. _Ki_ I've been practicing since I was tiny…I have no parents, but was raised by five true masters of the martial arts. But magic…it's totally new to me. I've only been training with Kain- _kun_ and his students and friends for a little over a month…before coming here, at least. So I've only seen a bit of magic in action, and I could never dream of doing any of it myself."

"Yet you took the remains of my spell and wove that energy into your sword. That was something…even a magical swordsman would have to be very skilled to pull off a technique like that. You have a lot of talent, Hikaru." She turned away and smiled slightly. "Ha…sympathy, is it?"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. Just remembering a warning I got recently." She rose and turned towards the light. "I'm going to sleep. You should, too. Tomorrow morning we'll go our separate ways. After that…." She paused, and there was definite sadness evident in her voice. "I suppose we'll next meet in Orimus."

Hikaru watched her go. There was a lot revealed in that quiet declaration…

8-8-8

"I'm…almost sad to see them go," Aerie sighed, glancing back at the forms as they finally vanished from sight. "They…didn't seem _that_ bad…."

"Perhaps they weren't," Hikaru replied thoughtfully. "And perhaps that is the greatest evil of all…that conflicts like this should be brought out in the first place….

"In any case, we might as well get going. Our next destination is Orimus. There…you should meet the rest of my friends…."

F I N

 _Author's Note: Character Introduction: Sherufanir, Largo, Pirogoeth, and Bodhi_

 _It's finally over! No more swapping back and forth between characters…next Act, we will focus on Yue and what's happened to her, and then back to Kain, and we'll focus on the main events for quite a while. It's fun scattering people, but it's also absurdly hard for me to write at times…._

 _A lot of this chapter focused on the emotional struggles of Hikaru. In a way, I might have gone a little overboard with the Sympathy for the Devil theme and Hikaru's part in that sentiment, but that's one of the theme of Negima that I've adopted: overboard feelings. Yue's insane reaction to her jealousy towards Nodoka, Chisame's over-the-top overreaction to everything…when I recall those, it doesn't seem so bad. But I wanted to make it show, even more than I did back with Mai and the rest: not everyone here is bad. Some are being manipulated, some aren't even sure they're doing the right thing, but because of time and chance, this is how everything has fallen. I really did like Ellis from the get-go of RoAW, so I had to paint her in a semi-heroine light here._

 _Well, let's move on to the characters…._

 _Sherufanir is one of the three women chosen by Dyshana in the second generation. She is, as described, a half-neocolom who gets 'frisky' during the full moon. She was never one of my favorite characters, but she did appear during the Gateport incident, and her full moon episodes were always pretty amusing, so I decided to have her with just to show them. Skill-wise, she's rather close to Fyuria, so I didn't feature a whole lot of combat from her (RoAW is not nearly as bad as FF7 when it comes to interchangeable skills, but it is up there). The neocoloms were an animal-human race of RoAW so I decided to have them be non-_ yôkai _beastmen here._

 _B orgnine is the third character gained in RoAW, Ellis' personal summoned monster. Called a 'larva' in that game, they are described as gods (_ kami _, in the Japanese powerful spirit sense of the term) summoned by true High Elves. His bestial appearance makes him easy to mistake for a monster. He has no emotions or feelings beyond loyalty to his master, although Ellis is fond of him and treats him well. He's a rather quiet and seemingly dour character, but with Ellis here, she needs her guardian, too. He's a good character, a powerful brawler, and has the best HP in the game._

 _M egaTokyo, of course, tells the story of Piro and Largo, two American fanboys (of differing genres) who are stranded together in Japan. Because they are both gamers, some of their stories and interactions revolve around games, and sometimes stories are told about their in-game characters. Largo always keeps his name and characters simple, and they are very much an extension of him. Piro, on the other hand, truly uses gaming as an escape, and prefers female avatars, such as Pirogoeth. He also plays these characters quite differently—usually far more destructive and vicious—than he is in 'real life'. Since I already brought Piro and Largo in with mini cameos back in Act 6, I decided that it would be fun to have their fantasy alter egos appear in the magical world. Hikaru's group was a great place for them, for multiple reasons (for one thing, early on, Rodney Caston, Largo's creator, insisted on a conscience for Largo based on Boo). Of course, they were somewhat upstaged by Ellis and co., but that's okay, because they were only cameo characters, not even from this world. They made all the mark they needed._

 _A nd then there is Bodhi. Since I brought in Aerie and Minsc, who are partially connected by vampires, introducing a vampire was a great villain for the piece. You see, in BG Minsc's ranger foe (favored enemy) is gnolls, since they kidnapped Dynaheir. With Dynaheir dead in BG2 and gnolls unimportant, they became vampires instead, and if I recall correctly Dynaheir was killed by Bodhi in front of Minsc, or was involved in some way (regardless, as the villain Irenicus sister and his co-conspirator she was as responsible). When you finally confront Bodhi late in the game, if you are currently romancing a character, Bodhi kidnaps said character (such as Aerie) and turns them into a vampire to fight you in that final fight with her. You are forced to slay your beloved, but can undergo a mini-quest to bring her back. This Bodhi has no real connection to the BG Bodhi—she's just an old, evil, powerful vampire than they have to squish. The name and image is more homage than anything. But she was a good and convenient villain in any case._

 _So, that's it for Hikaru and party. Now, as I said, in our next Act we have a new heroine to follow: Yue. And more friends to introduce. Oh, joy…._


End file.
